Bhubaneswar, Aug. 2: Paralympic athletes of the state are slowly but surely making a mark in international sports.

While a few of them are part of the ongoing Special Olympics in Los Angeles with Bargarh school boy Rajesh Meher winning a gold and a bronze medals, another athlete is preparing for the Rio Paralympics in 2016.

At the Special Olympics World Summer Games, the 14-year-old Meher bagged a gold medal in the 200-metre sprint and bronze in a 400-metre race on Thursday. Groomed by his school headmaster, Meher, who has a form of mental disability, had also won a gold medal in the National Games in 2013. Two other Odia para-athletes are taking part in the event. Sarita Routray, who hails from a slum in Bhubaneswar, is competing in cycling events in one, five and 10km categories and Arpita Mohapatra is coach of the Indian swimming team.

V. Ramesh Rao is preparing to clear the qualifiers of the Rio Olympics, 2016.

"I had done well at an event in Canada to be chosen to appear for the qualifying events. There are few events before the Rio Paralympics and if I perform well there, I can qualify for the Paralympics in 2016. That is my ultimate dream and I am working hard for it," said the wheelchair fencing sportsperson from Ganjam.

Odia para-sportspersons are excelling even without much training facilities available here. Last year at the Para-Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, Odia badminton player Pramod Bhagat won a bronze. In 2008, Markand Reddy from the state represented Odisha in the Paralympic athletics.

The infrastructure may not be there but some financial support is now coming from the state government, said Bishnu Charan Sahoo, who has been grooming Odia physically-challenged sportspersons for a long time and is also vice-chairman of Paralympic Committee of India.

"We were struggling for financial support a few years ago. But now we are glad that Odia paralympic sportspersons are given cash awards with the general sports persons during the state-level function. Many of our para-athletes and other sporting members have been awarded cash awards of around Rs 50,000 for their achievements at the national level. In fact, for his feat in Asian Games, Bhagat was given Rs 12 lakh. Since the awards are same as the general sports persons, we feel really encouraged," said Sahoo.

While the state government has allowed Odisha Paralympic Association to use any stadium or infratructure under Sports Authority of India free of cost for practice and training, the grooming of players in the wheel chair basketball and fencing is a challenge with no proper trainers available.