‘I believe in my guide runner more than myself’ says blind Indian athlete

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In: Asia
Divya Arya

BBC Hindi

BBC Head shot of Rakshitha with long dark hair tied in a pony tail, red and gold stud earrings and a shirt made from light blue and dark blue fabric. There is a reddish-brown running track in the background. BBC

” When I was growing up, all in my town would say: ‘ She is deaf, she is a waste'”, says Rakshitha Raju. Then, aged 24, she is one of India’s leading middle distance par players. ” It makes me thus proud”, she says.

By the age of 10, Rakshitha had lost both of her parents and was born deaf in a remote southwestern Indian town. She was raised by her mother, who has speech and hearing issues.

” Both of us are handicapped, so my aunt understood me”, she says.

When Rakshitha was 13 years old, the sports administrator at her class dismissed her and said she had the ability to excel as a great sportsman.

” I wondered:’ How? I am blinded, so how do I work on a monitor I didn’t see?'” she recalls.

Her professor explained that riders who are visually impaired can have a manual who runs alongside them. A little strap with a circle on both ends that each of the athletes can attach to is a tether, which is provided for each of the athletes.

An eye mask and a tether laid on a running track. The mask has a picture of a toucan on it. The tether consists of a short yellow strap with a blue loop on each end.

For a while, another children acted as link athletes for Rakshitha. Then, when she was 15 years old, Rahul Balakrishna, a gentleman, spotted her at the 2016 National Games.

A middle-distance skater, Rahul had recently competed in the 1500m himself. A manager at the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) a few years prior, while he was recovering from an injury, had introduced him to para-sports.

Due to the lack of instructions and tutors, Rahul decided to take on both positions. The government compensates him for the training portion of his work, but it doesn’t give the guides.

Yet, if a visually impaired runner wins an global competition, Rahul did not, in his own running job, achieve this. ” I felt glad that I could do this for myself and my state”, he says.

Rahul and Rakshitha running side by side on a track, their arms joined by a tether. He is wearing sun glasses and she is wearing a mask over her eyes. Both are wearing shorts.

He gave his time and money to help Rakshitha walk to Bangalore in 2018 so she could have access to better education services.

When they are running “it’s the smaller things that matter”, says Rahul. The link must inform the sportsman when they are approaching a slope, or when a company is overtaking, so they can put in a little more work.

They can only be connected by the cord, which is prohibited under competition laws, and the guide-runner is not permitted to drive, pull, or then propel the visually impaired sportsman.

Over time, the couple have built up a solid relationship and now” I believe in my manual runner more than myself”, says Rakshitha.

They won gold medals at the 2018 and 2023 Eastern Games, returning to a spectacular encouraged in Rakshitha’s community. She describes how the folks who used to belittle her organized a march, cheering and waving banners, for her.

Rakshitha and her grandmother in colourful clothing, with Rahul who is wearing a blue suit. They are standing in an open-topped car which is driving through a village. There is another female athlete on the left. All the athletes are wearing medals.

Rakshitha competed with Rahul in Paris in 2024, becoming the first blind American woman to reach the 1500-meter hurdles to the Games.

They missed out on a prize in France, but India’s even another visually impaired female athlete to count for Paris, runner Simran Sharma, did make it to the floor, bringing home a copper.

Simran is partially sighted and when she started running, she ran alone.

However, when Simran ran for the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021, she veered out of her path and realized she would need a guide if she wanted to continue running.

But the search proved challenging. ” It can’t be any athlete. You need someone who can run as quickly as you can and has a technique that works for you, she says.

Getty Images Simran and Abhay running side by side. She is on the right of the picture and he is on the left. Their bodies are mirroring each other so her right leg and his left leg are both outstretched. They are both holding their tether. She is wearing a white sleeveless top and shorts; he is wearing a blue sleeveless top with the word "guide" written on it and black shorts. Both have orange running shoes. Getty Images

Simran finally discovered a young athlete named Abhay Kumar, who was also training nearby. The 18-year-old was competing between classes, and guiding Simran gave him an opportunity to gain knowledge at international competitions.

” They sent me videos and after watching them I thought: ‘ I am a fast learner, this is going to be easy'”, he says. ” But when I ran for the first time, it turned out to be very difficult”. Every movement has to be synchronised.

Just a few weeks after their first international meeting, the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Japan, Simran and Abhay had little time to practice together.

Their first race, the 100m, ended in disaster.

Abhay and Simran crouch at the starting line to practise the beginning of a race. He is in the foreground with black shorts and a bare torso, and she is behind him in white.

” Neither of us knew the rules properly”, says Simran. Abhay” thought he had to stop to let me cross the line first, so he stopped completely”. He should have continued on and crossed the line just behind her, but they were disqualified.

But by the time they reached the 200-meter race, they were aware of what they were doing and had won. Simran became the World Champion in the T12 category.

Riding on that high, they went to the Paralympics in Paris. Simran became the first Indian woman with a visual impairment to win a Paralympic medal after finishing fourth in the 100-meter race but also claiming bronze in the 200-meter race.

Getty Images Simran and Abhay kneeling, holding the Indian flag behind them, having come third in the 200m in Paris. Behind them are the pairs who came first and second with their national flags. Getty Images

However, Simran is concerned about how long Abhay will serve as her guide. He also needs to consider his own career.

The Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) claims it cannot support guides who receive salaries, cash prizes, or pursue a long-term career path despite the fact that pair winners receive a medal when a pair wins.

” All we can do is support short-term needs like their food, accommodation, transport and training facilities”, says the PC I’s national athletics coach Mr Satyanarayana, who goes by one name.

Both Rakshitha and Simran are currently working on sponsorship deals that pay for their training. They compensate their guides for their work and give them a share of any prize money won. However, Rahul and Abhay would like more state support and would like to be able to apply for positions in the public sector that are reserved for athletes like the ones they work with.

Simran is already anticipating the upcoming Paralympic Games in Los Angeles despite the uncertainty surrounding her future with Abhay. ” I won’t rest till I change the colour of this medal”, she says, hoping that next time she will win gold.

With Rahul by her side, Rakshitha is hoping for a medal the next time. ” She must win a medal”, he says. ” There are many like her in villages. They don’t know about sports and the possibilities. They would look up to Radhiktha as a role model.

The BBC Indian Sportswoman Of The Year (ISWOTY) Award is back with its fifth edition to celebrate and honour the remarkable achievements of women athletes in India. Find out about the nominees – the winner will be announced on 17 February.