Paralympics 2024: Wanted to join the Special Forces, then lost his leg in a landmine blast, now after 22 years an army soldier won bronze in the Paralympics

On the 8th day of the Paris Paralympics, Nagaland's Hokato Sema won the 27th medal for India. He won this medal in the F57 category of men's shot put. 40-year-old Hokato threw 14.65 meters and finished third. With this, he won the bronze medal. India has now reached the 17th position in the Paris Paralympics with 6 gold, 9 silver, and 12 bronze medals.

Hokato Sema is the first player from Nagaland to win a medal in the Paralympics. He threw 14.40 meters on the third attempt and reached third place in the table. After this, he improved on the fourth attempt and threw 14.65 meters, which is his personal best. Earlier his personal best throw was 14.49 meters. In this event, Iran's Yasin Khosravi won gold with 15.96 meters and Brazil's Paulino dos Santos won silver with 15.06 meters. In the same event, another Indian athlete Soman Rana finished fifth with a best throw of 14.07 meters.

Hokato Sema has already showcased his talent at the international level before winning the bronze medal in the Paralympics. Sema also won a bronze medal in the Asian Para Games 2022. He also won a silver medal in the Morocco Grand Prix in 2022. Apart from this, he finished fourth in the 2024 World Championship.