[2] At the age of five, Mariyappan suffered permanent disability in his right leg when he was run over by a drunk bus driver while walking to school.

[2] Mariyappan enjoyed playing volleyball as a student; subsequently, his school physical education instructor encouraged him to try high jumping.

[6] In his first competitive event, aged 14, he placed second among a field of able-bodied competitors, after which he received strong encouragement from his classmates and others in Salem district.

[5] In March 2016, Mariyappan cleared a distance of 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) in the men's T-42 high jump event at the IPC Grand Prix in Tunisia, qualifying him for the 2016 Summer Paralympics.

[7] In November 2019, he cleared a distance of 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) min the Men's T-63 high jump event at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai to win the bronze medal, behind fellow Indian Sharad Kumar.

In a separate interview that month, he said that though he remained committed to an athletic career, he had been living off his prize money, and was in desperate need of a steady job to support his family.

[20] A petition to implead T Mariappan, recipient of gold medal in Para-Olympics competitions held recently, in a youth’s death case, has been filed in the Madras High Court.