Land mine blast survivor Soman Rana scripts golden CWG story
Army para-athlete Soman Rana won India's first-ever Commonwealth Games gold medal in the men's F57 shot put. Despite suffering a life-altering mine blast injury in 2006 that led to an amputation, the 43-year-old achieved a personal best performance to secure the victory.
Why it matters
The story highlights the resilience of para-athletes and the success of military veterans in overcoming severe physical trauma to compete at the highest international sporting levels.
Soman Rana had spent nearly a decade believing his sporting career was over.On Saturday, the Army para-athlete completed one of Indian sport’s most remarkable comebacks by winning India’s first-ever Commonwealth Games gold in the men’s F57 shot put in Glasgow.Rana, then serving with 2/8 Gorkha Rifles along the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir, suffered a mine blast injury on December 1, 2006. The explosion led to the below-knee amputation of his right leg, while his left leg was fractured badly enough to require a metal rod that remains in place even today.Now nearly two decades later since that day, nothing, it seems, can stop him. The 43-year-old from Bihar’s Gaya produced a best throw of 13.40m to win gold as training partner Shubham Juyal claimed silver with 13.28m, giving India its maiden gold and first-ever one-two finish in the men’s F57 shot put at CWG.
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