Mariyappan Thangavelu is a Paralympics champion in the category of men’s high jump. At Rio 2016, in the men’s high jump T42, he won the Paralympic gold medal. At his young age, when he was going to school he got hit by a bus driver his right leg become stunted.
Mariyappan Thangavelu was born in Periavadagampatti village which is in Salem District of Tamilnadu. His parents have 6 children and he is one among them. He has four brothers and a sister. His father left the family when they were children. His mother single handily raised them. She used to carry bricks for livelihood until she becomes a vegetable seller. His mother earned Rs 100 per day.
At the age of 5 when Mariyappan walking to school, he ran over by a bus with a drunken bus driver on his leg. So he lost his leg below the knee. And he becomes stunted. Despite everything, he used to see himself the same as the able kids. He completed his secondary schooling.
In 2015, Mariyappan has completed his bachelor’s degree in business administration from AVS College of Arts and Science. Further, he wishes to finish his MBA from the same institution. In an interview, he shares that now the neighbors and the surrounding people have recognizing him with great respect. He is feeling great about his athletic career. His idol and role model is an actor from Tamil cinema called Rajnikanth.
As a student, Mariyappan Thangavelu loves to play Volleyball. Regarding high jump, he got his boost from his educational instructor. An incident gave him good encouragement that is winning second place in the competitive event at the age of 14 among the normal kids. This event got great support from others in the Salem district. At the Indian national Para-athletics championships held at 2013 supported by the Sports academy of India for differently-abled, Mr.Satyanarayana his current coach first observed him.
Then he formally took him as his student in the year 2015. Then he brought him to Bengaluru for further coaching. Mariyappan Thangavelu has cleared a distance of 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) in the men’s high jump T–42 event at the IPC Grand Prix in Tunisia in March 2016. This paved him the way for him to qualify for the Rio Paralympics. Next in the Rio Paralympics, he won the gold medal in the men’s high jump T–42 event, with a leap of 1.89 m that is 6 ft 2 in. Followed by that in November 2019 he managed to clear a distance of 1.80 m that is 5 ft 11 inch in the Men’s High Jump T-63 event at 2019 World Para Athletics Championships. So he bagged the bronze medal behind fellow Indian Sharad Kumar. Mariyappan Thangavelu’s motto and sporting philosophy are “Try and try again, you will succeed in the end”.
A petition was filed in the name of Mariyappan Thangavelu by the mother of a son. His son was found dead near the railway station after a fight with Mariyappan. This incident happened when Sathish kumar hits Mariyappan’s two wheeler. So Mariyappan along with his friend Sabari and Yuvaraj has beaten up Sathish kumar. They also snatched the mobile phone from Sathish kumar. And to get his phone he ran before them. The next morning, he was found dead near the railway station.
Once he wins the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Paralympics he was honored through various firms. Some of them are listed below.
Although he got a quite sum of money, he feels that he is currently living off his price money. So he needs a stable job to support his family. With the price money, he bought a paddy field for his mom. Also, he built a nice home for his family. He deposited his remaining in a bank amount. In an interview, he told that he petitioned the Government of Tamilnadu about his job and he didn’t receive any reply from the government.
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