Para-athlete stands tall by his achievements

Para-athlete K Y Venkatesh tastes the pinnacle of his success in a cricket-obsessed nation, writes Sudhir Kumar

Para-athlete K Y Venkatesh with his medals and awards; (right) receiving the Padma Shri from the President

Venkatesh’s family

In the resplendent Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, a pint-sized man stood ‘tall,’ grabbing eyeballs of and eliciting persistent applause from the dignitaries that included the Prime Minister. Attired in a black suit, the bespectacled cynosure took a few tiny steps towards the rostrum where President Ram Nath Kovind was to bestow on him the country’s fourth-highest civilian award — Padma Shri — for his accomplishments in sports. However, the President, showing graciousness and keeping aside the protocols, himself came down to present the award. That was the defining moment for Bengaluru-based para-athlete K Y Venkatesh, who just touches 127 cm (4 ft 2 inches), but has swathed the country in glory with sky-high feats.

“The President was very happy,” reminisces the 51-year-old Venkatesh. “He told me, ‘Your height is short but your achievements are tall. We will stand together on the ground, then I will honour you.” The athlete had applied for the award twice in 2018 and 2019. “This year I didn’t even apply because I thought Covid-19 warriors would be preferred. I was ecstatic when the Home Ministry informed me about the award. It is a testament to my hard work spanning two decades. I am happy to get it in a cricket-crazed nation.”

Venkatesh says dwarfism came upon him through achondroplasia, a genetic disorder affecting bone development that results in short-limb dwarfism. “I am the only person in my family of four elder sisters and an elder brother to be born with this incurable disorder.” But it did not deter him from reaching the pinnacle of success that began with him becoming the first athlete to represent India in the 2005 World Dwarf Games in France and notching a world record of six medals — two gold, one silver and three bronze — in the discus throw, shot put, volleyball and badminton events. It ensured him a place in the Limca Book of Records. He also led India at the fifth World Dwarf Games in Northern Ireland in 2009, where the country won 17 medals. Similar to the Paralympics, these Games are held every four years.

It needs tremendous grit and gumption to pulverise the odds, and Venkatesh has proved it to the hilt. He forayed into sports in 1994 when he represented India at the first International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships in Berlin. “I was excited while entering the stadium which was built by Adolf Hitler and where the Indian hockey team had won gold in the 1936 Olympics. I also wanted a gold in the championships, but couldn’t secure any medal,” he rued.

Venkatesh, a graduate from MES College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Bengaluru, had to wait for another five years before he won his first gold for India in the shot put at the 1999 Southern Cross Multi Disability Championship in Sydney. For two decades, he represented the state and India at various national and international meets with distinction. A silver medal in badminton at the LG World Cup 2002; 3 gold and 2 silver medals in shot put, discus throw and javelin throw at the Open Track and Field Championship, 2004; a gold, two silver and a bronze at the Swedish Open Track & Field Championship, 2004; a gold medal in hockey, silver medals in football and basketball and a bronze in badminton at the 2006 European Open Championship; a gold in the 2008 Asian Paralympic Cup; and a gold and three bronze medals in the 2009 World Dwarf Games — all these feats belong to him.

He was inspired by C N Janaki, the first disabled person to swim across the English Channel in 1992 in spite of being afflicted with polio since the age of two. “If she could attain such a feat, why can’t I? That was the trigger for me,” he said, adding that his parents always backed him. Since his retirement from active sports in 2012, he is engaged in promoting sports for people with disabilities. He is secretary of the Karnataka Para-Badminton Association, which conducts a state badminton championship every year to identify budding para-players. “They need support, not compassion, to prove their mettle in sports and other fields,” said Venkatesh, who runs a chemical making business and listens to old Hindi songs as a pastime.