Gold

Gauranshi Sharma was born with hearing and speech impairments. That did not stop her from discovering badminton. She trained. Competed. Improved. And eventually represented India internationally. Then came the Deaflympics in Brazil. Gauranshi won gold. The medal represented hours nobody had seen. Training sessions. Discipline. Travel. Pressure. The frustration that inevitably accompanies competitive sport. But when the result came, all of that effort became something she could hold in her hands. Gold. For Gauranshi, disability was part of her story. It did not have to become the boundary around it. She became a champion. Not because somebody felt sorry for her. Because she competed and won. What achievement made you realise that other people's limits for you were not necessarily your limits? This is an editorial retelling of a documented account. Original storyteller: Gauranshi Sharma. Country: India. Source: UNICEF India.