Praveen Kumar clinched a silver medal in the men’s high jump T64 event on 3 September, taking India’s overall Paralympic medal tally to 11. The 18-year-old made an Asian record during the event, jumping 2.07 meter.
Great Britain’s Jonathan Broom-Edwards won the gold medal with a highest jump of 2.10 m.
Poland’s Maciej Lepiato, meanwhile, finished third with a succcessful 2.04 m jump.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted to congratulate Praveen Kumar on a stellar achievement. “Proud of Praveen Kumar for winning the Silver medal at the #Paralympics. This medal is the result of his hard work and unparalleled dedication. Congratulations to him. Best wishes for his future endeavours. #Praise4Para,” he wrote.
T64 classification is for athletes with a leg amputation, who compete with prosthetics in a standing position.
T44, the disability classification that Kumar has but is eligible to compete in T64, is for athletes with a leg deficiency, leg length difference, impaired muscle power or impaired passive range of movement in the legs.
His impairment, which is congenital, affects the bones that connect his hip to his left leg.
The ongoing Games are turning out to be India’s best ever and the nation has so far claimed two gold, six silver and three bronze medals.
Shooter Avani Lekhara adds bronze to her gold medal
Indian ace shooter Avani Lekhara claimed a second medal in R8 – Women’s 50m Rifle 3P SH1 event, winning bronze with a score of 445.9 at the Tokyo Paralympics on 3 September. Earlier, Avani Lekhara scripted history earlier this week as she became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Paralympics, firing her way to the top of the podium in the R-2 women’s 10 meter Air Rifle Standing SH1 event in Tokyo. The 19-year-old from Jaipur, who sustained spinal cord injuries in a car accident in 2012, finished with a world record equalling total of 249.6, which is also a new Paralympic record.
The 19-year-old Lekhara qualified second for the event with a score of 1176, including 51 inner 10s. In the fiercely contested finals, Lekhara totalled 445.9 to finish ahead of Ukraine’s Iryna Shchetnik, who let slip her grip on the medal spot with a poor third shot of 9.9 in the elimination.
The Jaipur-based shooter, who sustained spinal cord injuries in a car accident in 2012, had fired a world record equalling total of 249.6, which was also a new Paralympic record.
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