Written by Nitin SharmaNew Delhi | Updated: October 3, 2025 01:52 AM IST 5 min readAt the Paris Paralympics, Nain won the title with a throw of 34.92metres, an Asian record and his personal best. (PTI Photo)As Paris Paralympics champion 36-year-old Dharambir Nain was about to take his first throw after the rain break during the men’s club throw F-51 final, his mentor Amit Saroha gave him sagely advice. Saroha, a two-time world para silver medallist and two-time Para AsianGames champion, knew that the conditions would be a big factor at the ongoing World Para Athletics Championships in the capital city.“It’s about the first throw only. To hold the club post that will be tough,” Saroha shouted out. Nain would foul on his first throw but registered a throw of 29.34 metres in his second to be in lead. However, Aleksandar Radisic of Serbia with 30.36m won gold. Nain then maintained his second position as his last throw measured at 29.71 metres helped him upgrade the colour of his medal — from bronze in the 2024 worlds at Kobe to silver at Delhi on Thursday night.“With glue used to hold the club, rain means it will always get difficult with each attempt in wet conditions. But then I know that if I can make a fine throw in one of the early attempts, I will be in medal contention. I did not want to miss winning a world medal in India and once I got into the rhythm with the 28-29 metre mark… Yes, I know it’s way below my best throw of 34.92 metres but considering the rain and all, I am glad to win my first worlds medal at home,” Nain told The Indian Express.Nain would also talk about the phase before he met Saroha, who is widely considered as the pioneer of club throwing in India.A year after he lost his father Ranvir Nain, a motor mechanic, Nain would suffer a spinal injury in June 2012 during a visit to see an aunt in a village near Sonipat. He went diving with friends in a canal and hurt his spine.With his mother and two sisters taking care of him, Nain would undergo rehabilitation at his home before he met Saroha in Sonepat through a common friend of theirs in 2013. Two years later, the Badhana village native would share the podium with Saroha. Nain won the bronze medal while Saroha won the gold at the para nationals. Nain looks back at those times with a sense of loss as well as hope.“I had lost my father a year prior to the fall in the canal. Then I suffered the spinal cord injury, sitting at home I would often get depressed and it was a very tough time. Nobody in my family or relatives knew how to manage life after the injury. But it all changed when I met Amit sir through Kuldeep ji, a common friend. When I won the bronze in 2015 nationals with a throw of 16.50 metres with Amit sir winning the gold, all I wanted was to emulate sir. The Paralympics title as well world championship medals are all thanks to Amit sir,” Nain said.Story continues below this adOver the last decade, Nain finished ninth and eighth in Rio and Tokyo Paralympics apart from a tenth place in 2017 worlds. In 2023, Nain would win the silver at the Asian Para Games, where compatriot Pranav Soorma, who finished fifth on Thursday, won the gold with Saroha winning the bronze medal. A year later, Nain would win the bronze in Kobe with a throw of 33.61metres and would also better Saroha’s career best throw of 30.25metres.At the Paris Paralympics, Nain won the title with a throw of 34.92metres, an Asian record and his personal best. While world record holder Russian M Taimazov was not competing in New Delhi, Saroha and Nain had been working on bettering the 35-metre mark over the last six months.“Prior to the Paris Paralympics, we worked on Dharambir’s technique of throwing the club by gathering the power from down. It’s unlike other throwers, who make the use of the side throw and it showed in our results at Paris. And post Paris too, even when Dharambir became a Paralympic champion, we did not stop training, even in rainy conditions or humid conditions. If you have to win gold, you have to prepare for every situation and condition. And that’s what happened today with the rain. Prior to Paris, the 400gram club did not have a standardised weight distribution. Post Paris, the rules were changed regarding the tip and tail but then the centre part is still an issue and we are still protesting as some countries are taking undue advantage of this,” Saroha said.Nain called his mother to tell her about the silver medal and also hugged Saroha and put the Indian flag around his neck to celebrate. Last year, Saroha had organised a cash-award function for his trainees prior to the Paris Paralympics.Story continues below this adLast week, Nain had got the Rs 6 crore from Haryana government for winning the title at Paris Paralympics and he knows how to utilise some part of the money. “Amit sir has always thought about every single athlete trained by him and that’s the reason we have achieved it all. He has made us worthy of world standards. He will guide more Dharambirs for India,” Nain said.Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story ‘Harmans of Moga’, Nitin has also been a two-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022 and 2023 respectively. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women’s cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin’s interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... 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