REMEMBER THE NAME: Hokato Hotozhe Sema earns Paralympics Bronze for India—and sporting immortality in Nagaland 

KOHIMA — Hokato Hotozhe Sema scripted history by securing a Bronze medal for India in shot put at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024—the first first-ever athlete from Nagaland to achieve the feat.

Hokato won the Bronze medal in men’s shot put F57 category with a personal best throw of 14.65m on Friday night, September 6. 

The gold medal went to Yasin Koshravi of Iran with a throw of 15.96m and silver was secured by Thiago Paulino Dos Santos of Brazil with a throw of 15.6m.

Hokato hails from P Vihoto Village in Niuland District. Currently serving as a Havildar in 9th Assam Regiment, he lost his leg to a landmine blast in 2002 during a counter-terrorism mission along the Line of Control.

In 2022, he bagged two medals: a Bronze medal at the Asian Para Games in China that qualified him for the Paralympic Games 2024, and a Silver medal at Grand Prix in Morocco.

Wife’s prayers answered

Thanihring Aye, wife of Hokato, attributed her husband’s “unexpected” win to the grace of God.

“I am so happy that it still feels like a dream and my happiness cannot be expressed,” the elated wife told Eastern Mirror on Saturday.

The couple got married in 2006, four years after he had met with the accident. They have three children: one daughter and two sons.

However, their married life has been filled with hardships and full of struggles. The wife recalled that Hokato had been passionate about sports from a young age but the bomb blast forced him to put his passion on hold for a while.

In the immediate aftermath of the accident, Hokato did not plan to go back to sports; even the family did not think he would get the chance to return to sports.

But around 2016, when his retirement from the army was approaching, Hokato decided to pursue his athletic aspirations. However, financial constraints posed a significant hurdle.

With limited resources, they had to take loans and credits from friends and families to support his journey. But despite the challenges, the couple remained determined.

With nearly 20 years shared in marriage, Thanihring can testify for her husband’s determination for something he is passionate about. In return, she too provided him with unwavering support and belief.

“My biggest wish was for him to succeed. Because I believed that all of the troubles in life would be taken away with his achievements”, Thanihring shared. The Bronze medal in Paris, she said, is God’s answer to her prayers.

“We sacrificed a lot due to our financial constraints,” she said. Over the years, they had to stay apart a lot due to his training commitments. Travelling home was expensive, so he would often stay back at the academy even during holidays—thus saving some money in the process.

Paris was not his first attempt at participating in the Paralympics. He had been preparing and training for the Paralympics in 2020 but missed out on the opportunity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As luck would have it, when he went to the Asian Games in 2022, Hokato received some sponsorship that helped relieve the family’s financial burden to some extent.

The wife shared that they have been praying unceasingly for his participation in the Paris Paralympics. “We were not sure whether he would be able to make it and when we saw that he was selected (for 2024 Games), we cried together,” she said.

At times, Thanihring said, her husband gets worried that his disability might impact his children’s lives and they could end up facing ridicule from others.

“In the true sense, he went to the Paralympic Games to become a hero for his children so that people will stop laughing at them,” she shared.

Now, they all will remember his name.

Also read: Nagaland government announces INR 1.5 crore reward for Paralympic medal winner Hokato Hotozhe Sema