India’s newest star athlete Preeti Pal hails from a farming village in Muzaffarnagar, about 80 miles outside Delhi. In a few days, she will leave the Paralympics in Paris with two medals and arrive home to a massive celebration. She’s the first Indian track and field athlete to double medal at a single Paralympic Games — a bronze in both the 100 meter and 200 meter races.
Pal was born with cerebral palsy and competes in the T35 category — which includes runners with coordination impairments such as hypertonia, ataxia and athetosis. These conditions all impact movement.
During the Paralympics, Pal’s photos went viral across social media. In many Instagram posts, she’s draped in the Indian flag looking like a hero from a comic book — a far cry from her childhood, when local villagers told her parents they’d never be able to get her married because of her disability. Pal, now 23 years old, was born with cerebral palsy and misshapen legs and feet, so she could barely walk as a child. Years of treatment, physical therapy and coaching transformed her into a track phenom.
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