Paralympics Bronze Medalist Sharad Kumar on Friday kicked of PM Modi's school visit campaign for Tokyo Paralympians and visited Kerala's GHSS for Girls Cotton Hill in Trivandrum.

Besides members of the host school, student representatives of 75 schools from various districts of Kerala also got the opportunity to attend the event and share their experiences with World Championships Silver Medalist.

Talking about his personal experience with various sports Sharad said, "I for sure didn't know that High Jump was going to make it so good to me, I chose it because High-Jump called me. I was playing cricket, football and Table Tennis, I gave myself openly to the sport and never said I am only good in football or cricket and thus will not play this sport. I saw how every game had an impact; chess made me mentally strong, football gave me agility and the High Jump told me what is Physics and Science is. I did sports as I loved it and didn't make a compulsion out of it."

He further went on to add that besides love and passion for the sport, it is also important to follow a disciplined life.

"The only shortcut to a good and successful life is eating on time, sleeping, following discipline and not leaving things halfway" he said.

Sharad also interacted with the students on the importance of having a 'Santulit Aahaar' (Balanced Diet), Fitness and said "food doesn't need to be expensive to give you nutrients, even inexpensive food items can you give you the nutrients you require. So have every food item, big or small, expensive or inexpensive, just check it has the nutritional content that you require."

Sharad, who is a Sports Authority of India (SAI) Coach, then went on to give young upcoming athletes tips on being a better High-Jumpers and also showed his own skills in the game of Table Tennis.

The unique initiative is part of the government’s ‘Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ that was kicked off by Olympic Gold medallist Neeraj Chopra in December 2021 and then taken ahead by Olympic Bronze medalist Bajrang Punia and sailors Varun Thakkar and KC Ganapathy in the coming weeks.

'Meet the Champions' initiative is a unique school visit campaign that is jointly being organized by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. During their visit, the Olympians share their own experiences, life lessons, tips on how to eat right and also give an overall inspirational boost to school children.

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NB/OA