High jumper Praveen leads India’s gold rush

new delhi: India’s star high jumper Praveen Kumar soared to yet another gold, dominating his event as the hosts collected multiple medals on the opening day of the World Para Athletics Grand Prix here on Wednesday.

Praveen, the 2024 Paris Paralympics gold medallist, dominated the men’s T44 high jump, clearing 1.96m to take the top podium spot. Fellow Indians Unni Renu (1.86m) and Banti (1.83m) secured silver and bronze respectively in an event largely dominated by Indian participation, with limited foreign entries.

Shailesh Kumar clinched gold in the men’s T42 high jump with a leap of 1.84m, while Ramsingbhai Gov Padhiyar (1.65m) and Lokesh Mantra (1.60m) secured silver and bronze respectively, completing an Indian clean sweep in the event.

In the women’s 100m T35/T37 event, Preeti Pal, a double bronze medallist at the Paris Games, clinched gold after clocking 14.46 seconds, pushing Margarita Mataeva to second place (16.25s), while Karina Machulskaia took bronze in 17.38 seconds.

This marks Preeti Pal’s second major medal in less than a year after she had secured silver at the World Para Athletics Championships at the same venue last year. In the men’s discus throw F11/F12, Monu won gold with a throw of 34.30m, Praveen Sharma took silver with 32.96m. agencies