Subedar Hokato Hotozhe Sema, 42, has climbed to World No.1 in the Men's Shot Put F57 category in the latest World Para Athletics rankings, weeks after becoming the first Paralympian in India's history to be awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) by President Droupadi Murmu.Subedar Hokato Hotozhe Sema from Nagaland has been serving in the Indian Army for over two decades."I did not think about rankings when I started," Sema said. "I only wanted to throw one metre farther than the last time. Everything after that has been a surprise, even to me."Sema lost his left leg below the knee in a landmine blast during a counter-infiltration operation along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir in 2002. He was 19, a havildar with the Assam Regiment, and had hoped to join the Special Forces."That dream ended in one afternoon," he said. "For a long time I did not know what my life in the Army would look like anymore. Nobody prepares you for that kind of silence, when the thing you trained for your whole life is suddenly not possible."He credits a chance meeting with Lieutenant Colonel Gaurav Dutta at the Army Paralympic Node in Pune in 2016 for introducing him to shot put. He trains under coach Rakesh Rawat."In the beginning I did not even know how to hold the shot properly," he said. "I was thirty-two, starting something completely new, and there were days I asked myself if this was foolish at my age.""People in my village asked my parents why I was still doing this sport after so many years with nothing to show for it," Sema said. "I told them to wait. I did not have proof yet, only belief."The wait produced a bronze at the 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou and a personal best of 14.65 metres for bronze at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, India's first medal in the event."The AVSM is not mine alone," he said of his medal. "It belongs to every soldier who was told his story was over after an injury. I want them to see my life and know theirs is not finished either."Sema continues to serve with the 9 Assam Regiment. "I have served the Indian Army for more than two decades," he said. "That service made me who I am. I am made of steel and grit, and a landmine could take my leg, but it could not take that away."