Bengaluru: The para-athlete KY Venkatesh hailing from Bengaluru conferred with the Padma Shri for his contribution to sport and its development. In 1994, Venkatesh has represented India in the International Paralympic Committee world championship in Germany and in a stadium where the national hockey team had won gold.
“It was so motivating and inspiring to be there and represent India,” says Venkatesh who has achondroplasia, a condition that leads to dwarfism. He emphasizes saying “Countability, not a disability,”.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, he said, “I was always interested in badminton, volleyball, throwball etc. And then I found out about CN Janaki. She is the person who inspired me to dream big. Janaki suffered from polio since she was two years old and in 1992, she set the record for being the first physically challenged person to swim across the English Channel. I thought if someone without any sensation in her legs can achieve something like this, why can’t I? With steely determination, I started focusing seriously on sports.
Venkatesh’s father was an ayurvedic doctor and mother homemaker. Venkatesh is the youngest among their six children. He says his family has always stood firmly behind him and encouraged him to strive harder that pushed him into his first sports event in Mysuru for the first time in 1993.
Despite all challenges, Venkatesh has never looked back since and won medals for India in Badminton, shot put, javelin, discus throw, and other athletics. Since then, para-badminton athletes followed in his footsteps and won several laurels for India. He emphasized that para-athletes need encouragement and not compassion to strive to unlock their potential in sports and other fields.