this champion cyclist cuts grass to support familydheeraj saini 1 bronze medal in 15k road race cycling 22last week dheeraj saini cycled his way to a bronzegold at the abu dhabi special olympics on a bike hed bought from his earnings for the 22yearold thats a big deal his coach and mentor uk pandey says he has done well considering other players have expensive cycles that cost lakhs of rupees while sainis selfbought cycle is worth rs 25000saini is hearing and speech impaired and has mild to moderate mental retardation his father works in a cycle puncture shop and his mother is an agricultural worker as a child he would borrow cycles from neighbourhood kids to ridetrained in cutting grass and hedges saini works as a gardener at his old school amla birla kendra for special children pilani and parttime at peoples homes the whole staff at the school cites saini as an example of a good work ethic he has two siblings yet is the only one contributing to the familys earnings his whole family depends on him says pandeyfor the last 15 years he had been attending the training camps of special olympics bharat focusing singlemindedly on cycling for the last five he is such a hardworking honest and determined person he will do whatever it is he sets his mind on and he will do it independently not depending on anyone for help says sainis coach kane is able skating to zumba nothings beyond heravila kane 1 bronze medal in 100m race roller skating 18miracle is a word that comes to mind when you look at avila kane on the skating rink her parents were told that her chances of survival were only 5 when she was born she needed urgent blood transfusions after her birth a radio appeal led to 100 donors coming together to save her life and here she was roller skating her way to a bronze 100m at the special olympics the 18yearold has down syndrome she has managed to overcome her previously very limited speech i love all sportsskating football basketball and even carom kana says a certified zumba instructor she participated in the dancing event at the games at fairyland her school in goa where mainstream students and those with special needs are taught together she assists the dance coach the zumba coach as well as the yoga teacher soon she will be taking classes independently kane was three when fairylands headmistress maria cyena pegado first met her when avila first joined us her struggles were huge she wasnt really exposed to much before that so she wasnt very responsive she also had some behavioural problems for instance if kane didnt like someone their bag would be straight out of the window of a moving bus pegado notes the change came after she started roller skating and began to go to preparatory camps she has been skating for eight years now and is very particular about not missing her practice