Sharmila Dhankar is one of the great women who is a para-athlete from Haryana. From a physical illness when she was young to a tough and abusive marriage and now she is on the podium at the Commonwealth Games as a woman who has overcome so much, Sharmila is a great example of perseverance.
Sharmila was born in the small village of Chautrali in Haryana. She was raised in a small farming family, and her father was a small-scale farmer and her mother was blind. But she had polio at the age of two, so she was born with a permanent physical disability. But she battled through life’s hardships, but her opportunities were few and far between for her whole life.
But her problems were not limited to her childhood. Sharmila later went into a relationship that turned abusive, and so did years of domestic violence: She was regularly beaten by others, she said publicly, and eventually she left her marital home with her two children. She didn’t return despite the hardships that came with her because she wanted to make a better future for herself and her children.
A turning point came after her second marriage. Inspired by her husband and introduced to para-sports by a relative, Sharmila discovered athletics at the age of 34 when many athletes are at the end of their careers. Late starts in life in the sport later turned out to be the basis of a very extraordinary sporting career.
She started with shot put and later threw and continued working on discus throw despite having no previous competitive sport in her life. Her determination caught coaches’ attention even more when she won gold in her first National Para Athletics Championship in 2021. Knowing her natural talent and hard work ethic, she was encouraged to get into the sport professionally by her coaches.
Sharmila got better and better every year under the tutelage of coach Satyanarayana through disciplined training and mental toughness. Her coach has often referred to her as very strong not only physically but mentally as well. Her athletic career was much later than most of her competitors, and yet she had a very strong drive to succeed.
Her performance at the Commonwealth Games led to India's first para-athletics gold medal and second overall medal in the event. In the F57 category, Sharmila recorded a best throw of 9.81 metres to win the gold medal, which was the high point of her inspiring comeback story.
The win was more than a sporting victory for Sharmila. It symbolized years of struggle, financial hardship, and physical conditions of life were a sign of that hard work. From then on, it was just how Sharmila’s words of courage, determination, and self-confidence that nothing was too serious for Sharmila: “What did you do to become a champion in life and how would you achieve that is so great because you had to be a fighter and not just a professional player, and you had to work hard in tough times in life.”
Sharmila had entered the Games motivated as she failed to win a medal at the previous Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2014. A 45-day intensive training camp in Bengaluru had assisted her in training her technique and building her confidence for the event.
In addition to medals, sport has changed Sharmila’s life in so many great ways. Athletics gave her independence, financial stability, and confidence. Sports also helped her career, enabling her to move from the previous position that she had been in Haryana Roadways to another government department for a while and be able to focus on training and international competitions.
Sharmila Dhankar has now become a role model for other para-athletes, women faced with challenges, and people who think it is too late to pursue their dreams. She has shown that success is not determined by age, background, or obstacles life brings, but the will to continue to move ahead.
Not just her success but the growth of India’s para-sports system as coaches, sports authorities, and government have been supporting more and more talented athletes at all levels in the global arena to succeed. And as India is at the forefront of para-sports, stories like Sharmila’s really help to underscore how resilience can produce the best champions.
From childhood illness and personal trauma to becoming a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Sharmila Dhankar’s life is a testament to courage and hope and the view that setbacks can be the beginning of a new chapter, and it is inspirational to see her doing so. The story is inspiring to millions, and no dream is far from her when she is determined and passionate about it.
