Landmine Blast Survival to Paralympics: How Hokato Sema Clinched Bronze in Paris 2024

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Landmine blast survivor Hokato Sema clinched a bronze medal for India in his Paralympics debut with his career-best throw of 14.65 metres in the men's shot put F57 category final at the Paris Paralympic Games on Friday (September 6).

Sema, born in a farmer's family, had dreamt of joining the elite Special Forces (SF) to serve the motherland when he was young and displayed the highest levels of physical fitness and mental robustness.

However, on October 14, 2002, his dreams were shattered when he became a casualty of mine blast and lost his left leg below the knee during an anti-terrorist operation in Jammu & Kashmir's Chowkibal. He then took up Shot put at age of 32 while serving in the army.

Sema, who was encouraged by a senior army official at the Pune-based Artificial Limb Centre to take up shot put after seeing his fitness, was soon competing in the National Para Athletics Championships in Jaipur the same year.

The 40-year-old Dimapur-born Army man, who had won the bronze medal at the Hangzhou Para Games last year, started with a mediocre throw of 13.88m before he hit a purple patch.

The only athlete from Nagaland who is part of the Indian contingent at the Paralympics touched the 14m mark on his second throw and then improved further with a heave of 14.40m. In his his fourth throw he registered his personal best of 14.49m to clinch bronze.

Iran's Yasin Khosravi, the 31-year-old two-time para world champion and Hangzhou Para Games gold medallist, clinched the top spot with a Paralympic record of 15.96m, which he achieved on his fourth attempt. He missed rewriting his own world mark of 16.01m by just five centimetres.

Brazil's Thiago Dos Santos took the silver with his best throw of 15.06m. The other Indian in the fray, Rana Soman, silver medallist at the Hangzhou Para Games, finished fifth with a best throw of 14.07m.

F57 category is for field athletes with movement affected to a low degree in one leg, moderately in both feet or the absence of limbs. These athletes have to compensate for significant asymmetry in power from the legs but have full upper body power.

With Sema's medal, India's medal tally in the ongoing Paralympics has gone up to 27, with six gold medals, nine silver medals, and 12 bronze medals. This is India's best-ever haul at the Paralympic Games.