Deepthi Jeevanji Height, Age, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Deepthi Jeevanji

• Deepthi Jeevanji was raised by her parents in a lower-middle-class family.
  

  Deepthi Jeevanji’s childhood photo

• Deepthi Jeevanji was born with an intellectual disability which was a cognitive disease hampering communication as well as adaptive skills. She had unusual features like a cleft lip and a disfigured nose.

• When she was born, considering her unusual features, Deepthi’s parents were suggested by their family and friends to give her up for adoption. Her parents didn’t agree to the advice and decided to keep their special child. Her mother was quoted saying in an interview that
  

  She was born during the solar eclipse and her head was very small at birth along with the lips and nose being a bit unusual. Every villager who saw her and some of our relatives would call Deepthi pichi (mental) and kothi (monkey) and tell us to send her to an orphanage.”

• During her childhood days, children used to tease and make fun of Deepthi’s condition and she would run back home and cry to her mother. The only thing that made her feel better was the sweet rice and chicken that her mother would make for her.

• Deepthi Jeevanji’s talent as a runner was spotted by her PT coach Biyani Venkateshwaralu when she was in 9th class. She used to defeat able-bodied students and that is what impressed her teacher and he eventually got her enrolled for 100m and 200m training. Her coach Biyani Venkateshwaralu was quoted saying in an interview about Deepthi that

When I first saw Deepthi, I was impressed by her strength and ability to run naturally. I had to run with her on the track to make her understand the idea of the running track.”

• During her initial days, she won the 100m at the state level but was disqualified for lane infringement.

• In 2018, Deepthi Jeevanji’s parents sold their one-acre plot in Kalleda village in Warangal to support Deepthi’s career in sports.

• In 2019, during a state meet held in Khammam, Telangana, Deepthi Jeevanji was spotted by the Sports Authority of India’s (SAI) coach N Ramesh and he came over to Deepthi’s home to convince her parents to send her to the SAI Centre in Hyderabad for training.
  

  Deepthi Jeevanji with her coach N Ramesh during her practice session

• When she got to the SAI centre in Hyderabad, N Ramesh used to draw the running track on paper and make her understand different tactics to get her adjusted to training at the stadium.

• In the same year, national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand saw Deepthi at a training session at the stadium and suggested Ramesh to get her assessed at the National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities in Secunderabad.

• After three days of tests at the National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities in Secunderabad, Deepthi Jeevanji was assessed for competing in para competitions.

• She was selected to compete in para nationals the same year and then won the 400m title in the World Para Grand Prix in Morocco apart from a title in the Para Oceania Pacific Games in Australia.

• Pullela Gopichand also assisted Deepthi Jeevanji financially through his foundation named Gopichand Mytrah Foundation. He also had to give money to the bus conductor for her ticket to send and bring her from her village for practice sessions.

• In 2021, Deepthi Jeevanji took part in the 4x100m relay race in the 60th National Open Athletics Championships which was held in Warangal, Telangana.
  

  Deepthi Jeevanji (second from left) with her bronze medal at the 60th National Open Athletics Championships in Warangal, Telangana in 2021

• In the same year, she participated in the 36th National Junior Athletics Championships which was held in Guwahati. She won the silver medal in the 200-meter category.
  

  Deepthi Jeevanji (second from left) posing with her silver medal at the 36th National Junior Athletics Championships in Guwahati in 2021

• In 2022, Deepthi was selected by the Indian team to take part in the Asian Para Games which were held in Hangzhou, China. She won the gold medal in the women’s T20 category 400m race and she held the Asian Para record and the Games record of the timing of 56.69 seconds.
  

  Deepthi Jeevanji posing with her gold medal at the 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China

• After her performance in the Asian Para Games, Deepthi Jeevanji was selected for the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships which were held in Kobe, Japan. She set a world record of 55.06 seconds and broke the 55.12-second record of the American Paralympian Breanna Clark.
  

  Deepthi Jeevanji posing with her bronze medal at the 2022 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan

• In 2023, Deepthi Jeevanji brought back half of the one-acre plot that her parents sold in 2018 to support her career. She brought back that land for Rs 11 lakh with the award money received from the Central government for her gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in 2022.

• In 2024, Deepthi took part in the 22nd National Federation Cup U20 which was held in the Chhotu Bhai Purani Sports Complex, Nadiad. She secured second place in the 100m (Category F) after which she secured a Paris 2024 Paralympics quota.

• In the same year, Deepthi Jeevanji took part in the 2024 Summer Paralympics which was held in Paris. She completed the race in 55.82 seconds and won the bronze medal in the women’s 400m T20 classification final. She became the first intellectually impaired Indian athlete to win a Paralympic medal with a bronze in the women’s 400m T20 class.
  

  Deepthi Jeevanji (second from right) in a still during one of her races in the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris