Praveen Kumar celebrates after profitable the gold medal within the males’s T64 excessive soar occasion on the Paralympic Video games 2024 in Paris on September 6, 2024.
| Photograph Credit score: Reuters
India’s Praveen Kumar dazzled with a record-breaking efficiency within the males’s excessive soar T64 occasion, including a Paralympic gold to his Tokyo Video games silver right here on Friday.
The 21-year-old from Noida, who was born with a brief leg, smashed the Asian document with a finest soar of two.08m within the six-men discipline to complete on prime of the rostrum.
USA’s Derek Loccident claimed the silver with a soar of two.06m whereas Uzbekistan’s Temurbek Giyazov, who notched a private finest 2.03m, completed third.
India jumped to the 14th spot within the pecking order after Praveen’s win.
The nation has to date received six gold, 9 silver and 11 bronze medals to realize its best-ever haul at a single version of the Paralympic Video games.
Praveen Kumar reacts after ending the gold medal soar on the Paralympic Video games in Paris on September 6, 2024.
| Photograph Credit score:
Reuters
India surpassed its Tokyo Video games gold medal tally after Praveen’s triumph within the males’s excessive soar T64 occasion. On the Tokyo Paralympics, India had received 5 gold, six silver, and eight bronze medals.
Praveen received the nation its sixth gold medal after clearing 2.08m.
Opting to start out from 1.89m, Kumar aced seven jumps in his first try and put himself in pole place to seize the coveted gold medal.
The bar was then raised to 2.10m, with each Kumar and Loccident preventing for the highest spot on the rostrum however didn’t clear the mark.
This was additionally the 2023 world championship bronze medallist’s private finest efficiency.
T64 is for athletes with motion reasonably affected in a single decrease leg or the absence of 1 or each legs under the knee. Whereas T44, beneath which Praveen is categorised, is for athletes with motion affected at a low or reasonable diploma in a single decrease leg.
His impairment, which is congenital, impacts the bones that join his hip to his left leg.
Kumar’s odyssey towards turning into a para-athlete was marked by appreciable trials. He typically grappled with profound emotions of inadequacy compared to his friends as a toddler.
He began taking part in sports activities to counter these insecurities and located a ardour for volleyball.
His life modified when he took half in a excessive soar occasion at an able-bodied athletics competitors.
This expertise uncovered him to the huge alternatives accessible for athletes with disabilities, igniting a brand new and provoking trajectory in his journey.
He’s the third excessive jumper after Sharad Kumar and Mariyappan Thangavelu to safe a medal in Paris.
Sharad and Thangavelu received silver and bronze within the males’s excessive soar T63 occasion on September 3.
Printed – September 06, 2024 04:47 pm IST
