A 3-year-old, little boy was playing around the fields and all of a sudden, the fodder cutting machine attracted the little boy’s fancy. That unfortunate moment, he went near it in innocence and in his attempt to explore it, he got his left hand between its blades. The pain was not of the hand being chopped off, but was of losing his hand forever! It was indeed a shock for his family while the child couldn’t cope with the trauma. As he grew up he forgot the pain of the ordeal but of course, faced many challenges first to perform basic day to day tasks, adjusting every work to his three limbs only. He learnt to do things naturally as he grew up but the challenge of making a successful career in sports without a hand still stood in his way.
Born on January 1, 1999, in a small village of Dhamar in Rohtak (Haryana), Rinku Hooda never knew what destiny had in store for him. People say that destiny is in our hands but Rinku lost his hand yet made impossible sound stupid in front of him and went on to become one of India’s youngest paralympian in Javelin Throw. Bodyandstrength.com talked to Rinku Hooda and he shared his heart-warming story with us with an intention to let the world know that suffering or setback is not end of life, it is the beginning of another, more rewarding one.
A village friend of Rinku helped him to get into sports and as he played, he started feeling very good. Playing sports filled him with healing energy. He started feeling positive and wished to make his career in sports. He went on to win medals on state level. He then started going to the stadium regularly to train himself in athletic sports. In the beginning he used to practice running in 100 meter, 200 meter and 400 meter then he started doing jumps but he couldn’t perform up to the mark and couldn’t get the desired results in these athletic sports categories. He then tried his right and only hand in javelin throw. He took to this athletic sport like fish takes to water and soon won his first silver medal in javelin throw in national championship held in Gandhinagar in 2015. He had earlier won many medals but couldn’t adapt t one particular sport before taking up javelin as his area of sports expertise.
He says that he does workout 3 to 4 hours daily in morning and evening. He can be seen on his instagram, lifting heavy weights with one hand, which a normal person would do with great effort with two hands. He says that he hasn’t changed his diet and has kept it simple throughout his training. He talked very highly of his inspiration, idol and mentor, Amit Saroha (established discus throw and club throw Indian athlete). He said that Amit Saroha helped him train such that Rinku can now win international javelin throw championships. Rinku’s brother Anuj Hooda helps and encourages him a lot in every possible way from doing all his work to making him reach stadium, almost everything. He has the strong support system in the form of his family.
He recalls going to the Rio Olympics to represent India in the sport. He was very conscious in the presence of very senior and experienced players. He took it as an opportunity to learn as much as possible from their benevolent company. He says that every experience of life and company of sportspersons has made him grow as a human being and as an athlete, particularly, a javelin thrower.
In his message to the people of the nation, he said that like he has won gold medal in Youth Asian Games and Indian national anthem rocked international games stadium, he wishes that every time the gold must go to India only, every time he must listen Indian national anthem there whether it is brought home by him or any other Indian youth.
Bodyandstrength.com salutes the spirit of this young javelin thrower of India and wishes him all the very best on behalf of the country.
Achievements:
- National Championships (Silver Medalist)
- 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
- Rio Olympics (2016) – 5th position
- World Championship, London – 4th position
- World U20 Para Athletics Championship, Switzerland – Silver Medalist
- Youth Asian Games, Dubai – Gold Medalist
- Asian Para Games, Jakarta (2018) – Bronze Medalist
About The Author
The team is based out of Delhi and is connected to all the leading athletes, trainers and nutritionists. The purpose is to bridge the gap between common people and all fitness e..
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