RAWALPINDI: Two decorated Pakistani athletes have reached Japan to participate in the 2020 Summer Paralympics which began today, Tuesday, with hopes to bring home medals from Tokyo.
The sporting event, which began as a small gathering in 1948, has gradually evolved into one of the largest and most inclusive competitions for athletes with disabilities to represent their home countries and compete on the world stage.
Organizers of the Paralympic Games have said that the event is more than a sports competition, and repeatedly cast it as a way to draw attention to the 15 percent of the global population with impairments.
“I was always fond of sports, and I seriously, very seriously, started them in college,” Pakistani all-rounder para-athlete Haider Ali, who has cerebral palsy and will compete in discus throw at the Paralympics, told Arab News on the phone from Tokyo. 
The 37-year-old athlete from Gujranwala in Pakistan’s Punjab province has been participating in international competitions for about 15 years and been representing Pakistan since 2006. His memorable achievements include creating history at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China, where he won Pakistan’s first ever Paralympic games medal, a silver, in the F37/38 long jump.
Ali clinched gold in the F38 long jump event and bronze in the T-38 100-meters dash at the 2010 Asian Para Games held in Guangzhou, China. He also won gold for Pakistan in the long jump event at the Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled that were held in Malaysia in 2006.
“My family was and continues to be supportive of me both financially and otherwise,” he said. “The National Paralympics Committee of Pakistan is also there.”
Asked about government support, Ali said: “For 15 years, I have faced many hurdles. During this period, I received 30 percent support from the government and 70 percent was my own effort.”
Apart from Ali, Pakistan is also represented by discus thrower Anila Izzat Baig, the first female athlete from Pakistan to compete at the Paralympics. Baig has an impairment to her leg as a result of the effects of polio, which she contracted at age three.
Baig belongs to Faisalabad and has been participating in sports since she was in school. In 2008, she was spotted by Paralympics athletic coach, Mudassir Baig, who offered her a spot on the team for the 2009 Asian Youth Para Games in Tokyo, where she brought home a gold medal for discus throw.
Baig said the Pakistani government had helped her with funding to attend para-athletic competitions around the world.
“I cannot be more grateful since it helped me travel to get to this place,” she said, saying she was also supported by her family.
“My family and my school really supported me,” she told Arab News. “They encouraged me a lot and wanted me to be a part of para-athletic sports since they believed in me and what I could achieve.”
Both athletes share similar hopes for their performances at the Paralympics.
Haider said: “I hope and dream that I can take gold in Tokyo and lift the Pakistan flag with honor. That is my aim right now. I want to show the world what we are capable of.”
Baig echoed the sentiment: “I want to compete at the highest international level and win the medal for Pakistan. From my coaches at the National Paralympics Committee to everyone who has supported me, it is my dream that I can achieve and bring a gold medal for them.”