Chennai: T. Mariyappan may have won the high jump gold at the 2016 Paralympics last week but the athlete from Tamil Nadu is spending sleepless nights in Rio de Janeiro.
“People might think I must be one of the happiest men in the world after my gold medal and the subsequent cash award of Rs 2 crore announced by the Tamil Nadu government. On the contrary, I’m spending every minute in fear. My mother is also frightened about claims made by people who were in no way connected to my achievement at the Paralympics. She is crying whenever she speaks to me on the phone and I’m not able to comfort her,” said Mariyappan.
According to the gold medallist, India’s Paralympic coach R. Satyanarayana who has accompanied him to Rio is “the main man behind his success.”
“Rajendran and Ilamparuthi are wrongly claiming that they had played a key role in my career. Neither has the Tamil Nadu Paralympic Committee done anything for me. I want to make it clear that Satyanarayana is my mentor and I owe my gold medal to him. Ever since I met him two years ago, he has been supporting my family with Rs 10,000 every month. It was he who sent me to Germany for training. I started using shoes only after meeting him,” he clarified.
“Relatives who never bothered to keep in touch with my family for ages are thronging my house now,” he said. Mariyappan is also aghast that his estranged father, Thangavelu, is trying to get in touch with his family. “I hate the sight of him because he tormented my mother and me mercilessly. He once tried to burn me alive. I have no place for a man who abandoned his wife and four children. I don’t want anyone to call me Mariyappan Thangavelu. I’m Mariyappan,” he said.
