New Delhi, July 28 -- There was a time when Sharmila Dhankar did not know if life would ever give her another chance. Today, she stands as a Commonwealth Games champion.
On Monday night in Glasgow, the 40-year-old from Haryana scripted one of the most inspiring stories in Indian sport, winning the Women's Shot Put F57 gold medal with a season-best throw of 9.81 metres. The victory was historic in every sense as it brought India its first-ever Commonwealth Games gold in para-athletics, ended a 20-year wait for a para-athletics medal at the Games and made Sharmila the first Indian woman to reach the podium in the discipline.
Yet, the medal only tells part of the story.
Long before she became India's newest Commonwealth champion, Sharmila w...