Rio Paralympic Games gold medallist Mariyappan Thangavelu is excited to be nominated for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, but is not resting on his laurels.
Working hard
The high jumper said he is working hard to repeat his performance in Tokyo next year.
“Due to COVID-19, I am not training every day. I do cycling and gym at home and three to four days a week, I go to the Air Force ground in Bengaluru and train with my coach Satyanarayana.
“With my training — the coach is giving me a heavy workload — I am confident of retaining the gold,” Mariyappan, who hails from Periya Vadagampatti village in Salem, told The Hindu on Tuesday.
It has not been all smooth sailing, however.
There have been doubts raised over his qualification for the Khel Ratna in some quarters because of a 2017 case in the Madras High Court concerning the death of a youth.
