The Sports Ministry made some more course corrections and awarded the Arjuna Award (Lifetime) to para-swimmer Murlikant Rajaram Petkar, India’s first gold medallist in the Paralympic Games, conferring on him the prestigious award 52 years after he made history for the country in Heidelberg, Germany. A soldier with the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME) of the Indian Army, when he suffered a debilitating injury that rendered him paraplegic, Petkar won the gold medal in the men’s 50m freestyle swimming in the 1972 Paralympic Games at Heidelberg, Germany, becoming the first Indian to bag an individual gold medal in the Olympics or Paralympic Games.
Petkar, who suffered severe injuries when an army camp in Srinagar came under attack during the 1965 war with Pakistan, set three world records in the course of winning the gold medal but failed to get recognised with the Arjuna Award for excellence in sports for nearly half-a-century as para-sports did not get much recognition in those times.
Now, the 80-year-old Petkar will receive his award from the President of India Droupadi Murmu at a specially organised function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 17, 2025.
Petkar was awarded the Padma Shri in 2018.
The legendary para-swimmer’s achievements had gone under the radar for decades as para-sports failed to get much recognition from the public and government in those days, and facilities and support were minimal. Despite those hurdles, Petkar went on to win a gold medal.
An all-rounder in sports, having dabbled in multiple events and disciplines before achieving glory in para-swimming, Petkar was aspiring to become the country’s top boxer before he got disabled. He had won a gold medal in boxing at the Military Games in Japan a few months before he got injured and rendered disabled.
Petkar represented India in the Paralympic Games of 1968 and 1972. In the 1968 Paralympic Games in Mexico, he took part in para-table tennis and reached the second round. In 1972, besides swimming, Petkar also participated in javelin throw, precision javelin throw, and slalom and was a finalist in all three events too.
After retiring from TELCO, he is living a retired life in Pune where his son Arjun Murlikant Petkar is employed with the Army.
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