A team of 8 young blind athletes from India took part in the “2009 IBSA World Youth and Student Championships” held on 17-18 July at Colorado Springs, USA and bagged 9 Gold, 1 Silver and 7 Bronze medals in different track and field events.

Organised by the United States Association of Blind Athletes, the Championship is the largest blind sports event for under-nineteen blind and visually impaired athletes in the world. This sports event is a sanctioned event of the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) and recognised by the International Paralympic Committee.

The Indian team consisted of 8 athletes – 4 boys and 4 girls coming from institutions/organizations of the blind in Delhi, Dehradun, Ludhiana, Nagpur, and Ratnagiri. They participated under the aegis of Indian Blind Sports Association, the premier blind sports body in the country recognized by the Indian Olympic Association and affiliated with the Paralympic Committee of India. The Association represents India in the International Blind Sports Federation.

The championship participants were divided into two age-groups, namely, Junior Group – 12 to 15 years and Intermediate Group –  16 to 19 years. In each group, according to IBSA sight-classification rules, they were placed into three categories – B1: totally blind; B2: very limited vision; B3: low vision.

The championship was held in the picturesque St Mary’s Grace Centre overlooking the Colorado City with Rockies Mountains in the backdrop, at an altitude of 6000 feet. Over 350 athletes from 25 countries from Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America participated in the championship.

Defying all challenges of high altitude and long air travel, the India team gave an outstanding performance at the championship winning as many as 9 gold medals. Thus, Sanjay Kumar (14 years) had a haul of three Gold medals in 100m and 200m sprints as also long jump in Junior Group for Boys B3 category. He clocked 13.24 seconds in the 100 m dash. Ankur Dhama, 15 years (totally blind) struck gold in 400m and 800m races for Junior Group (Boys) clocking creditable 1:03.20 min in 400m. Amar Singh Nishad, 19 years, bagged Gold medals in 800m and 1500m races in Intermediate Group (Boys-B2 category) with impressive timings of 2:12.75 min and 4:32.80 min. Gaurav Singh, 17 years, with a fine throw of 36.52 meters won Gold in Javelin Throw event in Intermediate Group in B2-Boys category. Among the girls, Harmanpreet Kaur (14 years), secured gold in the shot put event in junior group-- B-3 girls. In addition the Indian team won 8 other medals—1 silver and 7 bronze—in various events.