When India’s Preeti Pal won her second silver medal at the Asian Para Games on Wednesday, she remembered her ‘younger brother’ and training partner Chirag Tyagi, who passed away in May. Chirag’s dream of winning a medal for India was cut short when another para athlete shot him dead in Ghaziabad after suspecting his role in getting him disqualified from competitions. Preeti has no doubt that Chirag would have finished on the podium in Nagoya, Japan, if he had been alive.

Preeti and Simran Sharma — another top Indian sprinter with two gold medals at the ongoing Para Asian Games — trained along with Chirag at the JLN Stadium in New Delhi. Sharma’s husband, Gajendra Singh, coached them. Memories of Chirag came flooding back when the two sprinters stood on the podium.

“Within a short time, Chirag became our trusted training partner. He was like a younger brother, but he guided us. By watching training and competition videos, Chirag was aware of the latest developments from around the world.…