Tokyo Paralympics silver-medallist Praveen Kumar on Friday created history to break the Asian record and win a high-jump gold at the Paris Paralympics, with a leap of 2.08m.
USA's Derek Loccident bagged silver with a best jump of 2.06m while Uzbekistan's Temurbek Giyazov, who notched a personal best 2.03m, finished third.
Praveen competes in the T64 high-jump event, a category for athletes with movement affected in one lower leg or the absence of one or both legs below the knee.
Play. PRA(WIN). Progress✅🫡What an extraordinary performance from Para High Jumper Praveen Kumar! He upgrades his #Tokyo2020 Silver to Gold with a tremendous Personal Best leap of 2.08m and boosts #TeamIndia’s rankings in the #ParisParalympics2024 medals tally. Savour… pic.twitter.com/2zRuPWdZls
— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) September 6, 2024
Although Praveen is originally a T44 athlete, he competes in the T64 event.
With his gold, the Indian athlete became the third high-jumper from the country to medal at the Paris Paralympics, after Sharad Kumar and Mariyappan Thangavelu, who won silver and bronze respectively in the T63 category.
India's tally at the Paris Paralympics now stands at 26 medals, with six gold, nine silver and a whopping 11 bronze medals.
Born in Govindgarh in Noida, Praveen had created history earlier as well, as the youngest athlete to win a Tokyo 2020 Paralympic medal.
Choosing to begin from 1.89m, Praveen aced seven jumps in his first attempt to put himself in pole position to grab the coveted gold.
The bar was then raised to 2.1m, with both Praveen and Loccident fighting for the top spot on the podium but couldn't clear the mark. This was the 2023 World Championship bronze medallist's personal best performance.
Praveen's impairment, which is congenital, affects the bones that connect his hip to his left leg. His journey toward becoming a para-athlete was marked by immense trials.
Praveen began playing sports to counter insecurities that arose from his disability and found a passion for volleyball. His life changed when he took part in a high jump event at an able-bodied athletics competition.This experience exposed him to the vast chances available for athletes with disabilities.