Do not judge Kerala’s Joby Mathews by his size, this champion can beat you in over five sports

‘Never say die’ has always been the attitude of this World Arm Wrestling Champion from Kerala. Joby Mathews proved again why he is a force to be reckoned with when he won six medals at the recently concluded World Dwarf Games.

Standing at only 3 feet 5 inches due to a condition caused by Proximal Fimoral Focal Deficiency (PFFD), 39-year-old Joby never allowed his disability to come in the way of becoming a world champion.

Joby first won a bronze medal at the 2005 World Arm Wrestling Championship in Japan. Three years later in 2008 he won the gold at the World Arm Wrestling meet.

But he wasn’t limited to only arm wrestling. In 2010, he won a gold medal in shot put at the National Paralympics Games. The next year he won gold in swimming in the same meet. In 2012, he became both badminton as well as arm wrestling champion. In the 2013 World Dwarf Games he won five medals.

In the 2017 World Dwarf Games, Matthew bagged two golds, three silvers and a bronze. Joby said, “I had a wonderful experience. I participated in badminton doubles, badminton singles, shot put, javelin, discus throw, and power-lifting.”

Joby, who works for the Bharat Petroleum Corporation as a sports trainer, is also the first wheel-chaired fencer in India, holds a brown belt in karate, is a member of the Kerala state parasailing and paragliding team.

Joby truly is a real life hero.