Praveen Kumar ensured India made a dream start to action in the 2024 Paris Paralympics on the 8th day of action by securing a gold medal in the Men's High Jump T64 event with a stunning personal best of 2.08, which is the Asian record in the event.
Praveen's gold medal ensured the country has six gold medals in the Paris Paralympics, beating the tally of five top-of-the-podium finishes in Tokyo. This was India's 26th medal as they continue to extend their tally in what is already their best-ever Paralympic games in history.
Who Is Praveen Kumar?
Praveen created history by winning India's sixth gold in athletics in the history of the Paralympics and the third in Paris. Praveen has joined a rare list of Indian athletes with multiple Paralympic medals, having previously clinched silver in Tokyo three years ago.
Praveen hails from the town of Jewar in Uttar Pradesh and has a congenital impairment, which affects the bones that connect the hips to the legs.
Praveen has previously revealed that he played sports for most of his school life, starting with volleyball, but it was a Google search that started his journey towards becoming a para-athlete.
Praveen first came to attention in 2019 when he took part in the World Para Junior World Championships in Switzerland and won a silver medal.
Praveen has credited India's Para Athletics coach Satyapal Singh for his incredible journey. The Paralympic champion first contacted Singh after participating in a district event.
"I took part in a district-level competition where I met Ashok Saini sir who gave me the phone number of Satyapal sir. I contacted sir and then he found out in which classification I will compete. He identified me and said he would take me in. This was 2018," said Praveen in a press conference two years ago.
Only two years later, he found himself on the podium in the Tokyo Paralympics with a throw of 2.07 m. In 2022, he won a gold medal in the World Para Athletics GP. Last year, he brought his A-game to the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, where he won gold and also broke the all-time Games record.
The 21-year-old is an athlete who is supported by the Olympic Gold Quest (OCQ).