Sonowal hails Sharmila's historic Para Athletics CWG gold
Synopsis
Para athlete Sharmila has won gold in Women's Shot Put F57 at CWG 2026 with a 9.81m throw, becoming India's first-ever Commonwealth Games gold medallist in Para Athletics after a 20-year wait. Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal hailed the achievement as historic.
Key Takeaways
Sharmila won gold in Women's Shot Put F57 at CWG 2026 with a throw of 9.81 metres .
She became India's first-ever Commonwealth Games gold medallist in Para Athletics .
The victory ended a 20-year wait for India in para athletics at the Commonwealth Games.
Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal posted a public tribute on July 28, 2026 , calling the performance 'extraordinary'.
The congratulations were shared under the government's #Cheer4Bharat campaign hashtag.
India's long wait in para athletics at the Commonwealth Games is over — and it ended with a throw that will echo for decades. Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, congratulated para athlete Sharmila for winning gold in the Women's Shot Put F57 at #CWG2026, calling her performance 'extraordinary' and her place in history well earned.
Sharmila's 9.81-metre throw did more than win a medal — it ended a 20-year wait and made her India's first-ever Commonwealth Games gold medallist in Para Athletics. That is a sentence that has never been written before. In a category that demands explosive upper-body power and precise technique from seated athletes, her effort was described by Sonowal as 'spectacular' — and the numbers back that up.
A milestone two decades in the making
India has competed at the Commonwealth Games across multiple cycles, and para sport has grown steadily as a fixture within the broader Games framework. But a gold in para athletics had remained elusive — until CWG 2026. Sharmila's victory in the F57 classification, which covers athletes competing from a throwing frame due to lower-limb impairment, is not just a personal triumph. It is a structural breakthrough: proof that India's para athletic pipeline is now producing champions at the highest multi-sport stage.Sonowal's tribute and the #Cheer4Bharat moment
Sonowal, a senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister of Assam, posted his congratulations under the hashtag #Cheer4Bharat, the government's rallying call for Indian athletes at international competitions. 'Scripting history by becoming India's first-ever Commonwealth Games Gold medallist in Para Athletics and ending a 20-year wait with a spectacular 9.81m throw is an extraordinary achievement,' he wrote. 'Your phenomenal performance has made the nation incredibly proud.' For a minister whose portfolio sits far from the athletics track, the post signals how deeply para sport victories resonate across the political establishment — a gold in shot put becoming, briefly, a national moment. Sharmila now returns home not just as a medallist but as a pioneer. The question for Indian para athletics is simple: who follows her onto the podium next?Point of View
And this breakthrough will likely sharpen calls for greater institutional support. Sonowal's public tribute reflects a broader BJP-government pattern of visibly aligning with sporting achievement, reinforcing the #Cheer4Bharat brand. The real test is whether this moment catalyses a pipeline of para athletics champions or remains an isolated peak.
NationPress
28 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Sharmila and what did she win at CWG 2026?
Sharmila is an Indian para athlete who won the gold medal in Women's Shot Put F57 at the Commonwealth Games 2026, becoming India's first-ever Commonwealth Games gold medallist in Para Athletics with a throw of 9.81 metres.
What is the F57 classification in para athletics shot put?
The F57 classification covers athletes who compete from a throwing frame due to lower-limb impairment, requiring explosive upper-body strength and precise seated technique.
Why is Sharmila's CWG 2026 gold considered historic?
It is historic because it ended a 20-year wait and made Sharmila the first Indian athlete ever to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal in Para Athletics.
What did Sarbananda Sonowal say about Sharmila's gold medal?
Sonowal called her 9.81m throw 'spectacular' and her achievement 'extraordinary', saying her performance had 'made the nation incredibly proud' in a post shared on July 28, 2026.
What is the #Cheer4Bharat hashtag?
#Cheer4Bharat is the Indian government's campaign hashtag used to rally public support for Indian athletes competing at international sporting events.
