How Indian high jump champion Mariyappan Thangavelu’s life changed in one day

ONE year ago, Mariyappan Thangavelu lived in extreme poverty and couldn’t afford a bed to sleep on. That all changed after one jump.

India's Mariyappan Thangavelu poses after winning the gold medal.

MARIYAPPAN Thangavelu’s world completely changed in one day. In fact, it took just one jump to turn his life around.

The Indian high-jumper grew up in extreme poverty in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, currently lives in a house that’s smaller than his room in the athletes’ village, and could only afford to sleep in a bed for the first time last year.

That’s all set to change after Thangavelu won his country’s third ever Paralympic gold medal, in the T42 high jump event; an achievement that’ll see the 21-year-old paid 7.5 million rupees (about AU$150,000) by the Indian Ministry of Sport.

“It’s a brilliant thing because he comes from such a humble background and is so young,” India’s chef de mission, S.S.Chhabra, said.

“This medal could also mean that he will get a lot of cash from the state government and land to be able to set up his own academy to promote sports,” added Chhabra. “Your life changes in one day.”

India's Mariyappan Thangavelu jumps in the men's final high jump — T42.

Thangavelu’s winning jump was an incredible 1.89m, which is eight centimetres short of the winning jump from the women’s high-jump event at the 2016 Rio Olympics (1.97m).

He refers to his damaged right toe as his ‘God’, and uses it to help propel the beginning of his approach, before launching himself over the bar.

The new high-jump champion’s life was changed forever when he was just five years old, with a bus swerving off the road, shattering his right leg below the knee.

“My right leg is now stunted. It is still a five-year-old’s leg and has never grown or healed,” Thangavelu told The Hindu earlier this year.

Despite the injury, Thangavelu made sure to make the most of his love of sports, not letting his stunted right leg effect his performance.

“I didn’t see myself as different from able-bodied kids,” he said. “At first, my classmates didn’t believe I could do it, but once I made that first jump, they were all excited. After that day, a lot of people came to support me whenever I competed in the district.”

While Thangavelu is one of the big winners in Rio, he’ll return to India with a more humble approach to life, hoping to make the most of his business administration degree.

“After the Games, I want to find a good job and take care of my mother.”

Originally published as How Indian high jump champion Mariyappan Thangavelu’s life changed in one day