Indian para-athletes win five medals in a late evening rush

Paris: Indians won silver and bronze in both men’s high jump T63 and javelin throw F46 after Deepthi Jeevanji’s bronze in the women’s 400m T20 category as the country’s track and field athletes clinched five medals at the Paralympic Games here on Tuesday.

Sharad Kumar and Mariyappan Thangavelu won silver and bronze respectively in the men’s high jump T63 while Ajeet Singh and Sundar Singh Gurjar took the second and third sports in the javelin throw F46 final.

The 32-year-old Kumar cleared 1.88m while the 29-year-old Thangavelu’s best effort was 1.85m. World record holder Frech Ezra of the USA won the gold.

T63 classification is for athletes with single through knee or above knee limb deficiency. Both Kumar and Thangavelu were T42 athletes who have single above-the-knee amputations or a disability that is comparable. T63 classification is for athletes with single through knee or above knee limb deficiency competing with a prosthesis.

T63 and T42 athletes can be combined in a single event and that was what happened on Tuesday. Gold winner Ezra is a T63 athlete and he competed with a prosthesis.

In fact, Kumar’s 1.88m effort is a Paralympic record in T42, bettering the earlier 1.86m set by Thangavelu.

In the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago, Kumar had won bronze while reigning world champion Thangavelu had clinched a silver. It was a sort or reversal here on Tuesday.

Ajeet upstaged world record holder Gurjar (64.96m) with a fifth-round throw of 65.62m. Guillermo Gonzalez Varona of Cuba won gold with 66.16m. It was Gurjar’s second consecutive bronze in the Paralympics as he had bagged the medal of same colour in Tokyo also three years ago.

F46 classification is for athletes with arm deficiency, impaired muscle power or impaired passive range of movement in arms, with athletes competing in a standing position.

Earlier in the day, India’s world champion Deepthi came up short of her best timing as she won a bronze medal in the women’s 400m T20 category final race.

Deepthi, who turns 21 later this month, clocked 55.82 seconds to finish behind Yuliia Shuliar (55.16 seconds) of Ukraine and world record holder Aysel Onder (55.23) of Turkey.

T20 category is meant for athletes with intellectual impairment.