New Delhi: For Sharmila Dhankar, every pull carries the weight of a rebuilt life. From growing up in poverty in Haryana’s Mahendragarh district and surviving domestic abuse in his first marriage to selling the family home to support his sporting dream, the 40-year-old para shot putter has turned adversity into ambition as he prepares for his second Commonwealth Games (CWG).On Monday evening, Sharmila wrote history by becoming India’s first Commonwealth Games para-athletics gold medalist. She produced a landmark performance by winning the F57 women’s shot put title with a season’s effort of 9.81m, ending the nation’s 20-year wait for a Para-athletics medal at the Games. The last para-athletics medal in CWG was won by Ranjith Kumar Jayaseelan in the men’s seated discus throw event in the 2006 edition.The F57 classification is for athletes with lower limb impairments, limb deficiencies or reduced muscle power.The seated thrower, who also competes in the discus, went into the Games on the back of an impressive performance at the Fazza Para Athletics International Championships in Dubai, where she won gold in the shot put and bronze in the discus.Her sporting journey only began at the age of 34. Sharmila contracted polio at the age of two, affecting her right leg and grew up in a family struggling to make ends meet. “My mother was blind, my father was a farmer and we had very little to survive. Life was never easy,” he told TOI.Married at 19, she suffered years of domestic violence before returning to her parents’ home with her two daughters – Anju, now 15, and Lakshmi, 13. “One night, she was beaten from 11 pm to 3 am by my first husband and thrown out of the house. I never came back,” she recalled.His life changed after his second marriage. Husband Ajit Singh introduced her to para sports and encouraged her to train under coaches Tek Chand and Devendra. In 2021, he made his debut in the Para National Championships and won gold with a national record.The following year, he finished fourth at the Birmingham CWG, narrowly missing out on a medal. She placed fourth again at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou in 2023. Despite those strong performances, financial problems persist. To finance his career, the family sold their house in Rewari in 2023 and moved into rented accommodation. “Sport gave me a second birth. After winning medals in para CWG and Asian games this year, I want to buy a house again,” he said.Sharmila had finished fifth in the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi last year. Beyond the medals, her biggest dream is to make sure her daughters have the opportunities she never had. Both are budding athletes – Anju competes in the under-16 javelin throw, while Lakshmi is an under-14 long jumper. Sharmila hopes that sports will help her build a future free from the difficulties she had to overcome.