Indian athletes stand tall in World Dwarf Games

BENGALURU: The Indian contenders entered the World Dwarf Games as underdogs but ended up making history with a record haul of medals. Having endured personal problems and grave financial crisis, Indian athletes showed steely resolve to finish a creditable tenth among 24 nations in the week-long event that concluded on August 12 at the University of Guelph, Toronto.

The Indian contingent returned with 36 medals including 14 golds, 10 silver and 12 bronze - their best ever in the world games. As many as 400 athletes from across 24 countries took part in the quadrennial event.

"None of our athletes from Karnataka, who qualified for the World Games, had financial support. I had to pledge my farm land to borrow Rs 2 lakh to cover my travel expenses," said sprinter Devappa More, who won 100m gold and 200m silver.

Karnataka athletes were the major contributors for India's success with seven participants winning as many as 16 medals medals including nine gold, four silver and three bronze medals. CV Rajanna returned with a rich haul of three gold medals in the veteran category. The Bengaluru athlete won the badminton singles title before winning track & field gold medals in 100m and 200m.

Belagavi girl Simran Gaundalkar, who participated in the junior category in swimming, clinched 50m backstroke gold and silver medals in 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle events. Bengaluru's M Prakash bagged boccia gold and discus throw bronze while Shanth Kumar (Bengaluru) added another gold winning the boccia event in another category.

Nagesh N (Bengaluru) excelled in athletics as he took the discus throw gold besides bronze medals in shot put and javelin throw while Renu Kumar(Bengaluru) won javelin gold and discus throw silver.

Shivanand Gunjal, paralympian and curator of Hubballi cricket stadium, was the manager of the Indian contingent.