NEW DELHI: Neeraj Yadav, one of India’s finest para-athletes, has died at the age of 42. Sources told the Times of India (TOI) that he reportedly died by suicide at a flat in Delhi on Tuesday night. He had won three gold medals at the Asian Para Games.
On Wednesday, a postmortem was being carried out at Delhi’s GTB Hospital. A postmortem is a medical examination that helps doctors find the cause of a death. At the time the report was filed, the circumstances had not been confirmed.
Paralympic champion Sumit Antil and fellow para-athlete Vipin Kasana were seen at the hospital, sources said. S Satyanarayana, India’s chief para-athletics coach, also confirmed the news to TOI. He described it as “extremely unfortunate and tragic.”
The athlete and his journey
Neeraj was from Uttar Pradesh. When he was seven, he was diagnosed with post-polio residual paralysis, a condition that leaves some muscles weak after polio. Growing up with it was never going to be easy, yet he kept chasing his love for sport.
Between 2005 and 2012, he played wheelchair tennis. Later, he moved to para-athletics and took part in the F55 category, where athletes throw from a seated position.
The first big win came in 2015 at the Delhi State Athletics Meet. He took gold in the shot put, the javelin and the discus.
Three years later, at the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta, he won gold in the men’s F55 javelin throw. His distance of 29.84 metres set an Asian record. In 2023, at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, he added two more golds, in the javelin and the discus. That brought his total to three.
Off the field
His career also had a hard chapter. The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) provisionally suspended him after a sample collected in Bengaluru in October 2023 tested positive for stanozolol, a banned steroid. “Provisionally” means he was kept out of competition while the case was still being decided. Neeraj later asked for DNA testing of the sample as part of the process, and he did not compete at the recent Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya.
That case is part of the story of his career, but officials have not said what led to his death. It would not be fair to guess.
What is clear is how far he travelled. He started with a serious physical challenge and still reached the top of Asian para-athletics. Many in the sports community will remember him for exactly that.
If this news left you feeling low
News like this can be heavy to read. If you or someone you know is feeling very sad or hopeless, please talk to a parent, a teacher or another adult you trust. You do not have to carry hard feelings alone.
