Vinay Kumar Lal

Born with left leg lower limb polio, Vinay Kumar Lal during his childhood had to face taunts from society because of his disability. However, due to his passion for sports, Vinay, at a very early stage, represented his state in volleyball, playing alongside able-bodied athletes. In 2015, inspired by the movie about one of India’s greatest athletes, Milkha Singh, popularly known as “the Flying Sikh”, Vinay started athletics and decided to lead as an example that despite having a disability, if one has the zeal to succeed, then anything is possible. The same year, he won his first-ever national medal at the Nationals, winning two silvers in both the 200m and 400m. In December 2015, Vinay’s mother passed away due to a heart attack, which had a drastic impact on Vinay’s life. He was not getting a proper diet and was facing problems focusing on his training. But after lots of hard work and the support from his father Vinay in the 2016 Nationals, which were held in Panchkula, he won 2 golds and missed the third gold by a fraction of the margin due to a hamstring pull in 100m, ultimately winning bronze in that event. The year 2017 was proving to be the best in Vinay’s career; he went to Beijing where he won 1 gold and 1 silver. Later that same year, the London World Championships were held, where he could only finish fourth, missing a podium finish by a fraction of a second. In 2018, he won his first Asian Games medal, where he finished third and continued to mark his presence in the para athletics competitions. Vinay, for many years, used to practice running in local parks without any proper guidance from a professional coach or equipment/gear, but still managed to finish the line before anyone else. Losing his father in April 2021 left him with no option but to take up a job at a call centre where he used to work at night and train in the morning. Currently, he is training hard to perform well at the upcoming Asian Para Games in 2023 and the Paralympics in 2024.

• Sport Athletics – 400m & 100m (T44)
• Hometown Sector 30B, Chandigarh
• Current Training Base Chandigarh