Written by Pritish RajNew Delhi | Updated: October 3, 2025 02:20 AM IST 4 min readOne of the reasons that Atul hasn't featured in any big competition is that his event was never part of the Paralympics and made its return to the World Championships after 2017. (PTI Photo)29-year-old Atul Kaushik was born with polio in his left leg and didn’t know about para sports until he turned 20. However, an episode on the famous television comedy show “Comedy Nights with Kapil” changed his direction in life.On Thursday, the native from Kair Village near New Delhi won the bronze medal in the men’s discus throw F57 category, the classification in which athletes compete from a seated position and attempt all six throws at once. Atul hurled his discus 45.61m to win the medal, while Mahmoud Rajab of Libya took the gold with 46.73m, and former World champion Thiago dos Santos won the silver with 45.69m.“I had no idea about para sports until I turned 20. One day, I was watching Comedy Nights with Kapil on my television, where Paralympic medallist Deepa Malik and high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu had come after winning a 2016 Rio Paralympics medal. That is when I came to know about para sports,” Atul told The Indian Express after winning the medal.“After watching the episode, I asked my family members if I should try para sports. Given that a lot of my family members are sports persons and I used to do gym and akhada myself, they also agreed,” said Atul.Once he made up his mind, Atul decided to seek the event he wanted to compete in. “A friend told me that a lot of pata athletes train at the JLN stadium. So, I traveled from my village to here and met my coach, Satya Pal Singh. He saw me and assessed my upper body strength,” said Atul. “Once he was done with the assessment, I tried Javelin, shot put, and discus, and started doing well in discus. That is where my journey started.”Very few international appearancesAtul’s bronze medal is his highest-ever achievement, and understandably, he was chuffed with his performance. “This is my first World Championships medal. It is a big deal for me as I am playing in a tournament of such stature,” said Atul.One of the reasons that Atul hasn’t featured in any big competition is that his event was never part of the Paralympics and made its return to the World Championships after 2017. Atul has been working very hard for the past six years and has won medals at nationals continuously and also a few Grand Prix, but he couldn’t participate in Paralympics due to the absence of his event,” said his coach Satya Pal Singh. “However, when we heard the event was back in the World Championships, our target was to win a medal at any cost.”Story continues below this adTough day on trackThe thirty minutes of downpour in the evening session made it tough for the athletes, with a few events getting rescheduled. Atul said that the delay hampered his readiness for the event, and the equipment also got a little slippery. “I guess my muscles became stiff with all the delay. I wanted to go for gold, but my body didn’t allow me,” Atul said. To make matters worse, he started with a foul throw. “When I fouled my first throw, I became nervous. But then the second throw went 42.47m, which gave me more confidence.”Once he gained the confidence, Atul threw 45.61m in his fifth attempt to move to the bronze medal position and remained there till the end. “It was important for him to gain confidence. The sitting throws events are different as you have to attempt everything in one go,” Satya said.After winning a medal on his debut, Atul wants to appear more on the international level. “My next target is the Asian Para Games next year, and I think with the World Championships medal, I am more confident of my chances,” he concluded.Pritish Raj works with sports team at The Indian Express' and is based out of New Delhi. ... Read More© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd