Producer: Peuli Bakshi
Indian shuttler Nitesh Kumar clinched the men’s singles SL3 gold medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics on Monday (Sep 2).
He beat Great Britain’s Daniel Bethell 21-14, 18-21, 23-21 in a thrilling 79-minute contest.
The 29-year-old became the third-ever Indian shuttler to win a gold medal at the quadrennial spectacle.
As a child, Nitesh loved football but in 2009, an accident in Vizag permanently damaged his left leg, but not his dreams.
However, his love for sports grew even more during his time at IIT-Mandi and he started taking an interest in badminton.
Nitesh’s introduction to para-sports came through a conference catering to individuals with disabilities.
In 2016, he represented Haryana at the Para Nationals in Faridabad, marking his national-level debut. He won bronze there.
Since then his career kept moving only upwards. In the 2022 Asian Para Games, he won a gold, a silver, and a bronze.