Paralympics 2024: Hokato of Nagaland, who lost his leg in the explosion on LoC, won the medal

The excellent performance of Indian players continues in Paris Paralympics 2024. Giving the best performance in Paralympic history, India has won 27 medals so far. The 27th medal came in the Shot Put F57 event. In the final match, 40-year-old Hokato Hotoje Sema of Nagaland threw 14.65 meters in his fourth attempt and finished third with his personal best performance. With this, he confirmed the 27th medal for India in the current Paralympic Games.

Hokato Sema by of 14.40 meters threw

The Nagaland athlete had moved to third place in the standings with his third throw of 14.40m before improving further in his fourth attempt. Hokato is the first athlete from Nagaland to win a Paralympic medal. Hangzhou is a bronze medallist at the Asian Paralympic Games. Another Indian athlete Soman Rana finished fifth with his best effort of 14.07m. He was at one point running third in the standings, but was knocked out of the Peking medal race after better efforts from Finland’s Teijo Kopikka and Hokato.

Also read: Paris Paralympics 2024: India creates history in Paris Paralympics, breaks Tokyo record, Praveen’s golden performance in high jump

India now has 27 medals at Paris Paralympics

Iran’s Yassin Khosravi won the gold medal of the event with a throw of 15.96 meters, while Brazil’s Paulino dos Santos finished second with a throw of 15.06 meters and won the silver medal. With Hokato’s victory, India has so far won a total of 15 medals in athletics events at Paris Paralympics 2024. India currently stands 17th in the medal tally with 27 medals including 6 gold, 9 silver and 12 bronze.

Hokato had to lose one leg on LOC

Hokato Hotoji Sema has moved forward facing challenges in his life. He was a Havildar in the Assam Regiment of the Indian Army. In 2002, during an operation on the Line of Control (LoC), he came under the grip of a landmine and lost his right leg. After losing one of his legs, Hokato started his athletic career with the help of Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ). In 2022, Hokato won a silver medal at the Morocco Grand Prix. Earlier this year, he also finished fourth at the World Championships.