Vivek Chikara
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Career
2019
Gold at Asian Para Championships
Sabi Hussain, Oct 24, 2019: The Times of India
Life was all good for para archer Vivek Chikara until that fateful afternoon of January 1, 2017. A bright MBA professional, Vivek was leading a normal life and was about to marry the love of his life, a teaching graduate whom he had dated for almost 10 years. But a tragic turn of event changed his life forever and left him with the tag of disabled.
Returning home to Meerut from Saharanpur — where he worked as a senior executive in a private firm — to celebrate the new year’s day with his family, Vivek’s motorbike was hit by a speeding truck. His left leg below the knee had to be amputated due to that cruel accident.
Shattered and broken, Vivek found solace in archery after being introduced to the sport by 2004 Athens Olympian, Satyadev Prasad, and soon the bow and arrow became his source of strength and inspiration. On Thursday, Vivek – who now wears a prosthetic leg – did the nation proud by clinching a gold in the men’s recurve open event at the Asian Para Archery Championships in Bangkok with an impressive 7-1 win over China’s Sijun Wang.
What made the moment a memorable one for Vivek was the fact that this was the 28-year-old’s first international medal in two years of his archery career. Earlier in June this year, Vivek had made the cut for the 2020 Paralympics after finishing joint ninth in the recurve open section at the World Para Championships in Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands.
Elated, Vivek told TOI from Bangkok: “Who says I am disabled? I never allowed it to become a hindrance and this medal is a proof of that. This medal will allow me to work harder towards achieving the ultimate goal of winning a gold at the Tokyo Paralympics. I believe with a little more help from the government in terms of funding, I can surely do better.”
Vivek has so far been training on his own, spending lakhs from his pocket and family’s savings to fund his archery requirements, with no job support from either the public sector undertakings (PSUs) or corporate world. He’s training under veteran archery coach Satyadev at the SAI Sonepat centre in Bahalgarh for close to three months and has been living on rent outside the facility. Vivek said that after booking a Tokyo quota place in Hertogenbosch, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) has recommended to the sports ministry to fund his training and support his boarding and lodging needs till the Tokyo Games. “I believe, things will become much smoother from now.”
Reflecting upon his journey, Vivek said, “After the accident, I quit my job as the company wasn’t ready to compromise on working hours despite my disability. I was bed-ridden for four months and wondering about my future when I saw a newspaper advertisement one day, which said interested sportspersons could join the Gurukul Prabhat Academy in Meerut. The academy has a modern archery facility and has produced Olympians like Satyadev, Mangal Singh Champia and Sumangala Sharma . I was introduced to coach Satyadev, who taught me the nuances of the game. Soon, I started conjuring up decent scores and that’s how archery became an integral part of my life,” said Vivek, who did his BBA and MBA in retail management.
