Amisha Rawat: The Shot Putter Who Turned Adversity Into a Personal Best
Amisha Rawat is an Indian para athlete from Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand, who competes in the Women's Shot Put F46 category. Born on 20 May 2003 without a hand below her elbow, she turned a physical disability into the driving force behind an international sporting career. She represented India at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, finishing 14th with a personal best throw of 9.25m, and earlier won a bronze medal in javelin throw at the 2022 Switzerland Grand Prix.
Who Is Amisha Rawat?
Amisha Rawat is one of India's rising names in para athletics. She competes in the F46 classification, a category for athletes with an impairment affecting one arm, and her main event is the shot put.
What makes her story stand out is not just the medals. It's the distance she has covered, both literally and figuratively, from a small town in the Himalayan foothills to the biggest stage in disability sport, the Paralympic Games.
She hails from Rudraprayag, a hill district in Uttarakhand better known for its temples and river confluences than its sporting pedigree. Amisha Rawat is quietly changing that image, one throw at a time.
Amisha Rawat Birthday, Age and Birthplace
If you're looking for quick facts about Amisha Rawat's date of birth and hometown, here they are in one place.
- Date of Birth: 20 May 2003
- Current Age: 23 years old (as of 2026)
- Birthplace: Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand, India
She grew up in the same Uttarakhand hills that have produced several notable names in Indian sport, a region known for producing determined, disciplined achievers despite limited access to big city sporting infrastructure.
Early Life: Turning a Disability Into Determination
Amisha Rawat was born without a hand below the elbow. Rather than treating this as a limitation, she approached sport as a way to prove what she could do, not what she couldn't.
Her introduction to competitive sport came through her school physical education teacher, Anil Kandwal, who spotted her potential and encouraged her to take part in the Uttarakhand State Para Athletics Championship. That single push set her whole career in motion.
She started out as a runner, not a thrower. At her very first state level meet, she won two gold medals, in the 100m and 200m sprints. It was only later that she moved into throwing events, where she would eventually make her biggest mark.
Amisha Rawat Education
Amisha Rawat has balanced serious academic commitments alongside her training schedule.
- Schooling: Completed in Uttarakhand, where her PE teacher first noticed her athletic talent
- Higher Education: Currently pursuing her undergraduate studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi
Juggling university coursework with national and international competition is no small task, and it says a lot about her discipline that she has managed both at once.
Amisha Rawat Career: A Timeline of Key Milestones
From state level sprints to a Paralympic final, here's how Amisha Rawat's career has progressed so far:
| Year | Milestone | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Early Career | State Championship Debut | Wins gold in 100m and 200m at Uttarakhand State Para Championship |
| - | Shifts to Throws | Moves from sprinting to javelin and shot put |
| 2022 | Switzerland Grand Prix | Wins bronze in javelin throw, her first international medal |
| 2022 | Asian Para Games | Represents India at Hangzhou, China |
| 2024 | Paris Paralympics Qualification | Qualifies for Women's Shot Put F46 |
| 4 Sept 2024 | Paralympic Final | Personal Best: 9.25m - finishes 14th |
Amisha Rawat at the 2024 Paris Paralympics
This is the chapter most people search for, and for good reason. On 4 September 2024, Amisha Rawat took the field in the Women's Shot Put F46 final at the Paris Paralympics.
She recorded her personal best throw of 9.25m on her very first attempt, a mark that stood as her best across the competition, ahead of subsequent throws of 8.72m and 9m. She finished 14th out of the 15 athletes who competed in the final.
The gold medal in the event went to American thrower Noelle Malkamaki, who broke her own world record during the competition with a winning throw of 14.06m. Ukraine's Mariia Shpatkivska took silver with an Asian record of 12.35m, while New Zealand's Holly Robinson claimed bronze at 11.88m. Competing against athletes of that calibre, Amisha Rawat's personal best performance stood out as a genuine highlight of her young career.
Her participation came in the same edition where India recorded its best ever Paralympic medal haul, a Games that put Indian para athletes firmly on the global map.
Achievements and International Appearances
Amisha Rawat's rise through the ranks has come with several notable achievements along the way:
Double Gold, 100m & 200m
Bronze, Javelin (Switzerland GP)
Paralympic Finalist, Shot Put F46
She also represented India at the 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China, adding continental level competition experience to her résumé before stepping onto the Paralympic stage in Paris.
The Coach Who Spotted Her Talent
Behind most athlete success stories is someone who believed first. For Amisha Rawat, that person was her school physical education teacher, Anil Kandwal.
It was Kandwal who first encouraged her to try competitive para athletics, guiding her toward the Uttarakhand State Championship where her journey truly began. Without that early nudge, her path from a Himalayan school ground to a Paralympic final might never have taken shape.
Why Amisha Rawat's Story Matters
- Represented India in Women's Shot Put F46 at the 2024 Paris Paralympics
- Improved her personal best from 7.82m to 9.25m on the biggest stage of her career
- Won an international bronze medal in javelin throw at the 2022 Switzerland Grand Prix
- Competed at the 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China
- Balances elite level training with undergraduate studies at JNU, New Delhi
Amisha Rawat's journey, from a small hill town in Uttarakhand to a Paralympic final in Paris, is a reminder that talent doesn't wait for perfect circumstances. Born without a hand below her elbow, she chose to define herself by what she achieves on the field, not by what she lacks.
As Indian para sport continues to grow, athletes like Amisha Rawat are proving that Uttarakhand's small towns can produce world class competitors, and that determination, more often than not, throws farther than doubt. For her official Paralympic results, see her profile on Wikipedia or the official Paris 2024 Paralympics results page. Explore more sportspersons from Uttarakhand on our site.