Diagnosed with an intellectual disability, Telangana’s Deepthi Jeevanji turned childhood stigma into triumph. From running barefoot in school to winning international medals, she now aims for Paralympic gold and the BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year Award 2025.
India’s Deepthi Jeevanji qualified for the Women’s 400m T20 final at the World Para Athletics Championships 2025, clocking 58.35 seconds in her heat. The medal round will be held at 7:23 pm IST.
Telangana’s Deepthi Jeevanji clocked 56.70 seconds to win the women’s 400m gold at the National Para Athletics Championships. Other standout performances came from Sumit Antil, Navdeep Singh, and Preeti Pal, who clinched gold in their respective events.
Deepthi Jeevanji, who is 21-year-old and born to daily laborers from Telangana, won Gold medal at the World Para Atheletics Championships 2024 in women’s T20 400 metres event held at Tokya, Japan.
Para Asian Games gold medallist Deepthi smashed American Breanna Clark's earlier world record of 55.12 seconds set during last year's edition of the championships in Paris.