Soman Rana had spent nearly a decade believing his sporting career was over.On Saturday, the Army para-athlete completed one of Indian sport’s most remarkable comebacks by winning India’s first-ever Commonwealth Games gold in the men’s F57 shot put in Glasgow. Rana, then serving with 2/8 Gorkha Rifles along the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir, suffered a mine blast injury on December 1, 2006. The explosion led to the below-knee amputation of his right leg, while his left leg was fractured badly enough to require a metal rod that remains in place even today.Now nearly two decades later since that day, nothing, it seems, can stop him. The 43-year-old from Bihar’s Gaya produced a best throw of 13.40m to win gold as training partner Shubham Juyal claimed silver with 13.28m, giving India its maiden gold and first-ever one-two finish in the men’s F57 shot put at CWG. Cameroon’s Cedric Azamdzi (12.57m) settled for bronze.The triumph was particularly significant for Rana, who was a national-level boxer before the accident abruptly ended his sporting career. He had trained alongside Vijender Singh and represented the Services Sports Control Board at 2005 Senior National Boxing Championships.“I had always been interested in sports. Before joining the Army, I used to play different games like volleyball and boxing. Even after joining the Army, I continued competing in boxing national championships. But after I was injured, I couldn’t play anymore,” Rana had said before the Games.According to his coach, Subedar Major Rakesh Singh Rawat, Rana’s achievement becomes even more remarkable considering the challenges he continues to overcome.“The biggest thing about Soman is that he is already 43. At this age, he is still producing personal best performances. He is also managing diabetes and high blood pressure while competing at the highest level,” Rawat told TOI.For Rawat, however, Rana’s determination defines him more than anything else.“For an Army man, his spirit is enough. He has already sacrificed his leg for the country, and that is what keeps him motivated,” said the coach, who has been coaching him for the last four years.The turnaround began in 2016 when Rana travelled to the Army’s Artificial Limb Centre in Pune to be fitted with a prosthetic leg. There he met fellow soldiers competing in para sports, who introduced him to Col Gaurav Dutta, then Officer-in-Charge of the Army Paralympic Node.Dutta immediately felt Rana had all the attributes to succeed in the throws. “Once I saw him and the kind of hulk he is, I told him that sitting shot put would suit him best,” Dutta recalled.Rana began training in 2017 but narrowly missed out on the 2018 Asian Para Games because of technical reasons. “He felt hard done by, but I told him to stay patient and that his chance would come,” Dutta said.His opportunity finally arrived three years later when he qualified for Tokyo Paralympics, where he finished fourth. He followed that up with a silver medal at 2023 Asian Para Games, narrowly missed another podium at Paris Paralympics, and then clinched bronze at 2025 World Para Athletics Championships. Yet, one major title remained missing.“Without hard work, there is no success. I’ll work as hard as I can and bring home the gold medal for the country,” Rana had said before leaving for Glasgow.On Saturday, he kept that promise. His 13.40m effort proved enough to hold off Juyal by just 12cm and write his name into the history books.Rana’s rise has also been backed by the Bihar govt’s sports scholarship policy and cash rewards under the state’s Khel Samman Samaroh, besides assistance through central government schemes.Currently ranked World No. 2, Rana, who has a PB of 15.17m, has already shifted his focus to Para Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, in October. Joining him there will be Nagaland’s Hokato Hotozhe Sema, the reigning World No. 1, giving India two genuine medal contenders in the event.
