Suhas Yathiraj: 1st IAS officer to win Paralympics medal

Tokyo Paralympics: 38-year-old Suhas Yathiraj, a district magistrate in Noida, came up with a valiant fight against world champion Lucas Mazur and took the gold medal match of men’s singles SL4 category to three games. He became the first IAS officer to win a medal at the Paralympics.

Suhas Yathiraj has scripted history by becoming the first Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer to win a medal at the Tokyo Paralympics. The 38-year-old made the feat special by winning a silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Para Games on Sunday, losing only to top seed and world champion Lucas Mazur of France 21-15, 21-15-21 in the men’s singles SL4 category.

Meanwhile, India’s Tarun, who had tested Mazur in the semi-final, lost his bronze medal match to Indonesia’s Fredy Setiawan in straight games.

Suhas Yathiraj, a Karnataka-born engineer who is currently serving as the District Magistrate of Noida in Uttar Pradesh, stunned the 3-time world championship medalist in straight games. Suhas looked in complete control against the much-fancied opponent, pushing the French bara-badminton star to the limits.

India at Tokyo Paralympics

India made its first appearance at the Paralympics in 1968. In total, India had won 12 medals till 2016 Rio edition. India now improved upon the entire number by 7 medals at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics alone. India have finished at 24th position out of 162 nations in terms of overall medal tally.