Hokato Hotozhe Sema is an Indian para-athlete from Dimapur, Nagaland. He competes in men's shot put F57 event. He represented India at the 2024 Summer Paralympics at Paris and won a bronze medal in the event.
Land mine blast survivor Naga scripts history in Paralympics
Nagaland's first Olympic medal winner is Hokato Hotozhe Sema.
He won bronze in the men's F57 shot-put with a sensational throw of 14.65m that considerably bettered his previous personal best.
Sports commentators say with the 'pressure' on him, Hokato was able to bring out his very
best to seal the medal.
The F57 is a classification for those that participate in a seated position, and that tells
how tough the event can be. Where shot put throwers generally generate momentum by spinning and
stepping fast, powering themselves from the ground up, this seated position demands that the
athlete generate all that power from their upper body alone.
Nagaland Government has announced a cash reward of Rs 1.5 crore to 40-year-old
Sema for winning Bronze at the Paris Paralympics Games 2024.
In a social media post X, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said the state is proud of Hokato Hotozhe Sema
winning the medal. He said, the state government will recommend his name to the Government of India
to bestow him with Arjuna Awards.
Hokato hails from Dimapur. Hokato Sema is employed as a havildar in the Indian Army with 9
Assam Regiment. He lost his leg in 2002 during an operation at the Line of Control (LoC) due to a
landmine blast. Post that, at the age of 32, he started playing the sport of shot-put.
It may be stated that in addition to the bronze in the Paralympics, Hokato Sema also won a bronze
medal in the Asian Para Games 2022 and a silver medal in the Morocco Grand Prix in 2022.
Hokato Sema could successfully add another medal to India’s Paralympics tally when he snapped up bronze
in the shot put F47 event late Friday night. The success took the country’s total medal tally to 27.
Currently, Hokato is ranked 7th in the world.
This was the 40-year-old’s debut at the Paralympics and he came out with a Personal Best of 14.49m.
Hokato Sema is the second of the four children in a farmer’s family. When he was young, Sema dreamt
of joining the elite Special Forces (SF) and displayed the highest levels of physical fitness and mental robustness,
reports 'Indian Express'.
However, on October 14, 2002, his dreams were shattered when during a Counter Infiltration Operation,
he became a casualty of mine blast and lost his left leg below the knee.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also lauded Hokato and tweeted saying - “India is proud of his incredible spirit
and strength.”
“May his journey ahead be adorned with more glorious victories".
“A proud moment for India and historic for Nagaland. Thank you for making us proud. I hope you bring more laurels for the country,” Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said.
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Why India needs to be proud and Nagaland needs to celebrate the spirit of struggle and 'winning' of the best !!
Paralympics -- Hokato Hotozhe Sema, India’s bronze medal winner in shot put F47 event
Hokato Sema is employed as a havildar in the Indian Army with 9 Assam Regiment. He lost his leg in 2002 during an operation at the Line of Control due to a landmine blast. Post that, at the age of 32, he started playing the sport of shotput.
In addition to the bronze in the Paralympics, Hokato Sema also won a bronze medal in the Asian Para Games 2022 and a silver medal in the Morocco Grand Prix in 2022.
Hokato Sema added another medal to India’s Paralympics tally when he snapped up bronze in the the shot put F47 event late Friday night.
The success took the country’s total medal tally to 27.
This was the 40-year-old’s debut at the Paralympics and came into the Men’s Shot Put – F57 Final with a Personal Best of 14.49m.
He was sixth in the order of the athletes to throw. As this is a seated throw event, where athletes have to be harnessed to a throwing chair, all six attempts would be taken together in one go. The top two spots were all but decided early on.
The battle was likely going to be between Finland’s Teijo Koopikka and Sema. At the World Championships Koopikka had taken bronze with 14.74, while Sema had finished fourth with 13.97.
But once the Finnish athlete was done with his six throws with a best of 14.18, Sema – going after him – knew he had the bronze in his sights. He moved into third position with 14.40 off his third throw, and then upgraded it to a new Personal Best of 14.65m to all but seal the third spot.
Hokato Sema is the second of the four children in a farmer’s family. When he was young, Sema dreamt of joining the elite Special Forces (SF) to serve the motherland and displayed the highest levels of physical fitness and mental robustness, reports 'Indian Express'.
However, on October 14, 2002, his dreams were shattered when during a Counter Infiltration Operation, he became a casualty of mine blast and lost his left leg below the knee. He then took up Shot put at age of 32 while serving in the army.
The hero that India needs from the near forgotten frontier part of the country. - Z. Sumi
ReplyDeleteThat's not true. Nagaland or northeast is not forgotten ... One major problem was the Congress did not integrate the region well with the mainland in 60 years. It encouraged parochialism and other considerations. Corruption was also enocuraged. - Vidyarthi Kumar
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