She has become the first Indian para athlete. She is mentally challenged since birth.
The sixth day of the Paris Paralympics was historic for India. On September 3, Indian athletes broke the Tokyo record by winning a total of 5 medals. Now India has a total of 20 medals, which is the best performance so far in the Paralympic Games. Deepti Jeevanji of Telangana also made an important contribution to this historic feat of India. She won the bronze medal in the 400 meter T20 category of the women's race. She has become the first Indian female player to do so. 20-year-old Deepti completed the race in 55.82 seconds. She missed the first place by just 0.66 seconds. Deepti Jeevanji is a resident of Warangal district of Telangana. She has won a medal in the T20 category of the Paralympics. This category is reserved for mentally challenged players. It was very difficult for Deepti to reach this historic milestone. She had to fight not only her mental illness but also the society to prove her ability.
In a report by Indian Express, her mother Dhanalakshmi Jeevanji and father Yadhagiri Jeevanji have revealed that Deepthi was born during a solar eclipse. She was mentally weak from birth. Due to this, she had problems in talking or doing any normal work.
Deepthi's mother Dhanalakshmi Jeevanji told that after her grandfather's death, the agricultural land had to be sold. This brought disaster to the family. The whole family used to crave for food. Deepthi's father could barely earn 100 to 150 rupees, which could not meet the household expenses. In such a situation, she also had to work to support her husband and fulfill the needs of both daughters Deepthi and Amulya.
Dhanalakshmi Jeevanji also revealed that Deepthi was of a calm nature since childhood and spoke very little. The children of the village used to tease her due to her illness, then she used to come home and cry a lot. In such a situation, to make Deepti happy, she used to feed her sweet rice or sometimes chicken. Deepti was interested in athletics since childhood. At the age of 15, the coach of Sports Authority of India, N Ramesh, noticed her and he recognized the talent of the Indian athlete. After this, he started training her under his supervision. After a lot of hard work, Deepti achieved her first major success by winning the gold medal in the 2022 Asian Para Games. During this, she also broke the Asian record. After this, she became the champion in the World Para Athletics held in Japan in 2024, where she also made a world record. Now she has created history by winning the bronze medal in the Paris Paralympics.