After giving 3 years to Paralympic preparations in Ukraine, high-jumper Sharad anxious about future

He has spent the better part of last three years in Ukraine getting battle-ready for the 2020 Paralympics but with the COVID-19 pandemic causing a postponement, accomplished Indian high jumper Sharad Kumar is grappling with the anxiety of "starting from the scratch" again.

Kumar has been training in Ukraine since 2017 in his bid to win a medal at the Tokyo Paralympics, postponed to next year due to the pandemic.

A double Asian Para Games high jump champion and a world silver-medallist, Kumar said the thought of having to wait for another year is making him uneasy.

"I have done meticulous planning and hard training in last three years with the sole aim of a medal in Paralympics. Now I am not doing any training," Kumar told PTI fro Ukraine.

"...there will be no competition this year and so I have to start from the scratch next year," he said.

"Naturally I am disappointed but what can I do. The world is in crisis now. Sports is secondary at present. Athletes are human beings also and I am not thinking about sports now but about the misery the world is facing."
Asked if he is missing home, he said, "I was in India after the IPC World Para-Athletics late last year. I would have loved to come back home if possible. But there is no international flight operating currently."