Praveen Kumar celebrates after profitable the gold medal within the males’s T64 excessive leap occasion on the Paralympic Video games 2024 in Paris on September 6, 2024.
| Picture Credit score: Reuters
India’s Praveen Kumar dazzled with a record-breaking efficiency within the males’s excessive leap 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 file with a greatest leap of two.08m within the six-men subject to complete on high of the rostrum.
USA’s Derek Loccident claimed the silver with a leap of two.06m whereas Uzbekistan’s Temurbek Giyazov, who notched a private greatest 2.03m, completed third.
India jumped to the 14th spot within the pecking order after Praveen’s win.
The nation has to this point gained six gold, 9 silver and 11 bronze medals to attain its best-ever haul at a single version of the Paralympic Video games.
Praveen Kumar reacts after ending the gold medal leap on the Paralympic Video games in Paris on September 6, 2024.
| Picture Credit score:
Reuters
India surpassed its Tokyo Video games gold medal tally after Praveen’s triumph within the males’s excessive leap T64 occasion. On the Tokyo Paralympics, India had gained 5 gold, six silver, and eight bronze medals.
Praveen gained 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 to put himself in pole place to seize the coveted gold medal.
The bar was then raised to 2.10m, with each Kumar and Loccident combating for the highest spot on the rostrum however did not clear the mark.
This was additionally the 2023 world championship bronze medallist’s private greatest efficiency.
T64 is for athletes with motion reasonably affected in a single decrease leg or the absence of 1 or each legs beneath the knee. Whereas T44, underneath which Praveen is categorised, is for athletes with motion affected at a low or average 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 changing into a para-athlete was marked by appreciable trials. He usually grappled with profound emotions of inadequacy compared to his friends as a baby.
He began enjoying sports activities to counter these insecurities and located a ardour for volleyball.
His life modified when he took half in a excessive leap occasion at an able-bodied athletics competitors.
This expertise uncovered him to the huge alternatives out there 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 gained silver and bronze within the males’s excessive leap T63 occasion on September 3.
Printed – September 06, 2024 04:47 pm IST