High jumper Praveen Kumar upgraded his Tokyo silver to gold with a record-breaking performance, propelling India ahead of nations like Canada and Korea in the overall standings as the country's para-athletes continue to exceed expectations in their best-ever Paralympic showing in Paris.
Kumar not only achieved a personal best but also set a new Asian record with a 2.08m jump in the T64 category, securing the gold ahead of the USA’s Derek Loccident (2.06m) and Uzbekistan’s Temurbek Giyazov (2.03m).
Kumar becomes the third Indian high jumper after Sharad Kumar and Mariyappan Thangavelu to win a medal in Paris. Sharad and Thangavelu claimed silver and bronze respectively in the men's high jump T63 event on September 3.
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Bronze for Sema
Hokato Hotozhe Sema won bronze medal with a best throw of 14.65 meters that he achieved in his fourth attempt in the men's shot put final F57.
Sema, who had finished fourth at the World Championships earlier this year, also registered his personal best in the process.
Before the fourth throw, the Asian Para Games bronze medalist had registered 13.88m, 14.00m and 14.40m. He followed it up with 14.15m and 13.80m but had already climbed up to the bronze medal position behind Iran’s Yasin Khosravi (15.96m) and Thiago Santos dos Paulino (15.06m) of Brazil.
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India's medal count has now risen to 27 comprising six gold, nine silver, and 12 bronze medals. India has also surpassed its Tokyo Paralympic gold medal tally. India had secured five gold, six silver and eight bronze medals in Tokyo.
