SHILLONG, July 28: Havildar Soman Rana, a para athlete of the Army Paralympic Node, BEG & Centre, Kirkee (under the aegis of Army Sports Control Board) has been selected for the Tokyo Paralympics 2020 in seated shot put, F 57 category. Soman Rana is an international para athlete and stands second in world rankings in his category.
The 38-year-old athlete hails from Shillong and comes from a humble family background. On December 1, 2006, while serving with his unit in field area, he suffered a mine blast injury and lost his right leg. Losing a leg would end the sports journey for most, but Soman Rana fought his fears and kept himself motivated and determined.
Soman Rana was inducted into the Army Paralympic Node in 2017. This node provides a platform to all the serving impaired soldiers to pursue para sports and develop a positive perspective in life. Since its raising in 2017, para athletes of the node have won 28 international medals and 60 National medals. They represented and won medals for India in Asian Para Games, World Military Games, World Para Championship and World Grand Prix events.
In this year, Soman Rana amid all the restrictions won gold medal in Tunis World Para Athletics Grand Prix and two gold medals & one silver in XIX National Athletics Para Championship. Soman Rana has done our country proud and is an inspiration for all the para athletes in the Indian Army. He is one of the strong medal prospects to win a medal in Tokyo Paralympics 2020.