Praveen Kumar bagged a silver medal for India in the Men’s High Jump T64 with an Asian Record to boot at the Tokyo Paralympic Games here on Friday.
Praveen finished second behind Jonathan Broom-Edwards of Great Britain with the best jump of 2.07 as he could not clear 2.10 metres in three attempts. Praveen’s silver medal is India’s 11th medal at Tokyo 2020, which includes two gold, six silver and three bronze medals.
Jonathan Broom-Edwards took gold with a final jump of 2.10 metres while Poland’s Maciel Lepiato claimed bronze at 2.04 metres.
Praveen is India’s fourth medallist in men’s high jump at Tokyo Games after Nishad Kumar, Mariyappan Thangavelu, and Sharad Kumar.
Praveen, 18, passed on his first attempt of 1.83m and directly cleared 1.88m in his first jump. He sat through the 1.93m mark before clearing 1.97m on his first attempt. The jump ensured him of a medal.
He then took two attempts to clear the 2.01m mark and then cleared 2.04m in his first attempt. He couldn’t clear the 2.07m mark in his first attempt. However, he made a smooth finish to clear the mark in his second try making the Asian Record.
Broom-Edwards cleared the 2.10m mark in his second attempt, which Praveen failed to clear in his three attempts, thus settling for silver.
The Tokyo Paralympics marks India’s best-ever performance at an edition of the Games, easily surpassing the country’s previous best haul of four at the 2016 Rio Games. Shooter Avani Lekhara and javelin thrower Sumit Antil have won gold while Praveen is India’s sixth silver medallist after paddler Bhavina Patel, javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia, discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya, and high jumpers Thangavellu and Nishad.
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.