UP Govt. to give Rs. one cr to Paralympic Bronze medalist Varun Bhati

The Uttar Pradesh Government on Sunday announced a cash reward of Rs. one crore for Rio Paralympic Bronze Medalist Varun Bhati. The decision in this regard was taken by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

Varun Bhati won the bronze medal in the men's high jump T-42 event at the Rio Paralympics on Saturday by recording his personal best jump of 1.86 metres to finish third in the event which was won by Tamil Nadu's Mariyappan Thangavelu who jumped 1.89m.

Varun, the Greater Noida resident, is India's Para high jumper in the T42 category.

The 21-year-old para-athlete was afflicted by Polio at a young age. He somehow managed to find the right balance in sport and education and excelled in both the fields.

In 2014 Varun won a gold medal at the 2014 China Open Athletics Championship.

In a bid to motivate Paralympians ahead of the Rio Paralympics, the Sports Ministry had announced that medalists from the prestigious event will be given the cash awards at par with the medal winners of last month's Summer Olympic Games.

India, which has send its largest-ever delegation of 19 for a Paralympic Games, currently has two medals- gold and bronze.