New Delhi: Sharmila Dhankar has ended India’s 20-year wait for a para-athletics gold in the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. The 40-year-old competed in the women’s Shot Put F57 event and launched the heavy iron sphere across Scotstoun Stadium, registering a season-best of 9.81 metres.
The F57 category is for athletes with lower limb impairments or reduced muscle power. She was joined on the podium by her teammate Shilpa K Shyla, who won the bronze medal in the same event, giving India one of its rare double-podiums.
Sharmila’s feat is one for the ages. The gold medal around her neck is the culmination of a hard-fought journey, and a testament of tremendous resilience.
Sharmila was born in Haryana’s Chitrauli village on 15 August 1986. When she was two years old, she contracted polio, which permanently damaged her left leg. Her father was a small-scale farmer and her mother was visually impaired, leaving little scope for specialised medical care.
Sharmila was married off when she was just 19. To make things worse, she faced abuse for not bringing enough dowry and giving birth to two daughters. “He used to get drunk. He would use drugs. I worked in the fields, and I took care of cattle. But, it was never enough,” Sharmila reportedly said about her first marriage.
The gold medalist recalled the day when she had to endure violence for hours. While speaking to The Indian Express, she recounted, “My first husband stripped me naked and threw me and my daughters out of the house. My neighbours wrapped me in a quilt and my parents took us away.” She then returned to her parents and never went back.
Journey to Gold
In 2018, Sharmila remarried Ajit Singh, a submersible pump technician. Unlike the abusive husband from her previous marriage, Ajit was supportive of his better half.
“Narak se swarag banana chahta tha main Sharmila aur betiyon ke liye (I wanted to turn hell into heaven for Sharmila and our daughters)” said Ajit. He took Sharmila and her daughters to Rewari and encouraged her to take up para sports.
Ajit first introduced her to kabaddi; then took her to train under Paralympian-coach Tek Chand, who was a bronze medallist in the seated shot put at the 2018 Asian Para Games in the F57 category. The coach assisted Sharmila in sharpening her basics, and taught her to throw standing with the support of a pole. In her debut appearance at the 2021 Para National Championships, Sharmila won the gold medal.
She entered the 2022 Birmingham Para Commonwealth Games and the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Para Games, finishing 4th in both tournaments.
While Sharmila continued to show potential in the professional sporting scene, she couldn’t wish her personal struggles away. Financial troubles compelled her husband to sell their house in Rewari and settle in a rented accommodation. Her mother sold a part of their farmland to support her financially. Sharmila also lost her father during this time.
However, Sharmila refused to back down. She powered through the hardships and entered the 2026 Glasgow CWG. As she clinched the first gold in para sports, Sharmila accumulated praise from President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Union sports minister Mansukh Manadaviya also shared a video of Sharmila and Shilpa, achieving the feat:
HISTORIC GOLD IN GLASGOW! 🥇🇮🇳
Sharmila wins Gold in Women's Shot Put F57 & creates history at #CWG2026.
She becomes India's first-ever Commonwealth Games Gold medallist in Para Athletics.
Your indomitable spirit has made the entire nation proud on the global stage.… pic.twitter.com/gP1RA7ZHbn
— Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) July 27, 2026
As she continues on her inspirational journey, she wishes to see her athlete daughters, Anuj and Laxmi, succeed. “I started competing at 33. I want to see both my daughters qualify for the Games too, Anuj in javelin, Laxmi in long jump, so the three of us can compete together one day,” she said.
Now that she has won the gold, Sharmila wishes to buy a new house. She has already set her eyes on the upcoming 2026 Asian Games set to be held in Japan next month.
“Sport has given me a second birth. After winning medals in the Para CWG and Asian Games this year, I want to buy a house again,” she told media persons.
(Edited by Aakriti Handa)