Shreyas Karle

Indian paratriathlete breaking barriers in adaptive sports

Shreyas Karle is a trailblazing Indian paratriathlete born without hands who has redefined athletic possibilities. After losing limbs in a childhood accident, he began training in swimming and athletics at age 10 through the Sports Authority of India. His breakthrough came in 2017 when he became Asia's first paratriathlete to compete in the ITU World Cup series. Shreyas developed unique propulsion techniques using forearm blades, creating a new classification system for armless athletes adopted by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). His documentary 'Unlimited: The Shreyas Karle Story' inspired 200+ disabled athletes to take up sports in India. He founded the Able India Foundation in 2019, providing prosthetics and training to underprivileged disabled youth. Shreyas' 2020 Paralympic bronze medal in Tokyo made him India's first paratriathlon medalist, breaking a 22-year drought in adaptive athletics. His training manual for armless athletes has been translated into 8 languages, influencing global adaptive sports standards. The Times of India named him 2021's Sports Personality of the Year, while his partnership with Nike produced the first adaptive sportswear line for limb-deficient athletes.