Prateek Tanmay
4 min readBengaluruJul 25, 2026 08:32 PM IST
In 1993, elated after getting an ice-cream, a four-year-old girl in a remote Karnataka village was running towards home clutching the stick when a speeding lorry crushed her left leg. Cut to 2026, the same girl is representing India at the 2026 Commonwealth Games being held in Glasgow, Scotland.
Meet Shilpa K S, a para-athlete in the women’s 57 kg shot put throw category. Born to Shantha and Shaila, a farmer couple in Kanchigara Koppalu in Krishnarajanagar taluk of Mysuru district, Shilpa’s childhood was traumatic.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Shantha said, “She was just four years old when her leg was crushed. We are farmers and were unable to afford medical expenses. We used to carry her to school, and it was really hard living in a village set-up. But she was always a stubborn kid, which has taken her to this level.”
After completing her schooling at Kanchigara Koppalu, Shilpa pursued an undergraduate course at the Government First Grade College in Krishnarajanagar. She then moved to Mysuru to pursue post-graduation.
Later, when the Para Volleyball Association of Karnataka was looking to form the first women’s sitting volleyball team, Shilpa, who was by then working as a teacher, was introduced to the sport by her friend Geetha.
“She (Geetha) was the one who encouraged me. It was only when I was 29 years old that I entered competitive sports through sitting volleyball and represented Karnataka at the national level,” Shilpa said.
Raghavendra S G, joint secretary of the Karnataka Sports Association for Physically Handicapped, said that Shilpa was fit and so they encouraged her to take up shot put and discus throw, and she did very well.
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Shilpa’s journey was not easy. In the absence of any corporate backing or sponsorship, she trained and competed using an ordinary ‘Jaipur foot’ (a low-cost prosthetic limb) instead of modern sports-specific prosthetics.
Hardest decisions
But then came a point when Shilpa had to take the hardest decisions of her life – to relocate to Bengaluru for better training and resign from her job. “I decided to take up sports seriously. I came to my elder sister’s house and started training at Kanteerava Stadium under Arjuna awardee athlete and coach S D Eshan,” she said.
Shilpa achieved international glory when she won silver and bronze medals during a tournament in Thailand in 2024. The next year, Shilpa won a gold medal at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix held in New Delhi. She got the ticket to represent India at the Commonwealth Games when she won a bronze medal at the Fazza International World Para Athletics Championships held in Dubai earlier this year.
“It is an honour to represent India. My goal is to win a medal for the country. It is really hard for para-athletes to arrange for training. I need Rs 50,000 to continue training and stay in Bengaluru. Despite being poor farmers, my parents have helped me to a great extent. It takes a lot of money to participate in international events,” she said Friday before boarding a flight to Glasgow.
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Meanwhile, a visibly proud Shantha said, “When she lost the leg, and we saw the pain she was going through, many times we felt that it would have been better had she died instead of suffering from the trauma. But she was always determined and stubborn. She never deflected from her goal, which has brought her here.”
