Anandan Gunasekaran

Anandan was an able-bodied athlete competing in sprint events and had started his career with the army in 2005. In 2008 however, while serving in the LOC in J&K, he was injured in a mine blast resulting in an amputation below the knee. Whilst in hospital he started reading about sprinter and famous blade runner Oscar Pistorius and was inspired to take up para sports. In 2012, Anandan started competing in 100m and 200m sprint events with a wooden leg. He won Gold and Silver medals at the 2015 World Military Games in South Korea and the same at the 2016 Asia Oceania Athletics Championships in Dubai. Anandan also represented India at the 2017 IPC World Para Athletics Championships in London. His promising performances in 2016 and early 2017, saw him selected for support under the GoSports Foundation Para Champions Programme 2017-18, and his incredible performances have just continued. At the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta, he won Silver and Bronze medals, a tremendous career defining achievement. In 2019, more success followed as he won three-gold medals at the World Military Games, held in China. Anandan is aiming to win more laurels for the nation at mega events and has his sights set on the Paris Paralympics, where he wishes to write a new script in India’s Paralympic journey.

• Sport Athletics - 100m, 200m and 400m (T44)
• Hometown Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
• Current Training Base Army Sports Institute, Pune