Who is Deepthi Jeevanji? Know about first Indian para athlete to win gold at World Championships track events

The rising athlete Deepthi Jeevanji made every Indian proud with a historic Gold at the World Para Athletics Championships 2024 in Kobe on Monday, May 20. She broke the world record in the women’s 400-meter T20 run in a record time of 55.07 seconds to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games 2024.

However, this is not the first time Deepthi has made the headline in Indian sports. She famously bagged the Gold in the Para Asian Games in Hangzhou last year with a record timing. Deepthi has emerged as India’s one of the best athletes to look out for in future events so, let’s take a look at her short but remarkable career.

Who is Deepthi Jeevanji?

Born in 2003 in Telangana’s Kalleda village, Warangal district, Deephti was certified under the mentally impaired category at the National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Intellectual Disability in Hyderabad. She was allowed to participate in para-athlete events after a suggestion by the former Indian badminton player Pullela Gopichand. 

She was part of the Indian women’s that participated in the Asian Para Games 2023 in Hangzhou. She won the gold medal in the 400m run in the T20 category with a new Asian Para record and the Games record in her pet event. She produced a 56.69-second finish to win the Gold medal in Hangzhou.

At the World Para Athletics Championships 2024 in Kobe, Japan, she set a new Asian record of 56.09 seconds on Sunday to qualify for the finals. In the finals, Deepthi produced her best performance of her career to shatter the USA’s star athlete Breanna Clark’s previous world record of 55.12 seconds set in the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships 2024.

Deepthi clocked 55.05 seconds to set a new world record by clocking 55.07 seconds in the women’s 400m T20 category race at the World Para Athletics Championships history. She became the first Indian athlete to win the Gold medal at track events in World Championships history.