Tokyo Paralympics: High jumper Nishad Kumar clinches silver; bags second medal for India

In
the
final
round,
Nishad
Kumar
started
by
clearing
1.94m
successfully
in
the
first
attempt.
He
then
took
a
couple
of
attempts
to
clear
the
1.98m
mark
and
went
at
the
top.

The
Indian
later
faced
stiff
competition
from
USA’s
Dallas
Wise
and
Roderick
Townsend
–
who
went
on
clinching
the
gold
and
created
the
World
Record
with
a
successful
jump
of
2.15m.

Nishad
later
attempted
2.06m
and
cleared
it
successfully
to
secure
a
medal
for
himself.
As
he
was
tied
with
USA’s
Wise,
both
the
athletes
were
awarded
a
silver
medal.

Congratulating
Nishad
for
his
achievement,
PM
Narendra
Modi
tweeted,
“More
joyful
news
comes
from
Tokyo!
Absolutely
delighted
that
Nishad
Kumar
wins
the
Silver
medal
in
Men’s
High
Jump
T47.
He
is
a
remarkable
athlete
with
outstanding
skills
and
tenacity.
Congratulations
to
him.
#Paralympics.”

However,
another
Indian
high
jumper
Rampal
Chahar
failed
to
finish
the
podium
in
the
finals
as
he
finished
fifth.

Nishad
Kumar
who
hails
from
Una
(Himachal
Pradesh)
has
a
limb
deficiency.
The
22-year-old
high
jumper
is
missing
his
right
hand.
A
student
of
Physical
Education
from
Lovely
Professional
University,
Nishad
started
competing
in
para-athletics
in
2009
at
the
age
of
10.

His
personal
best
of
2m
at
Dubai
World
Para
Athletics
Championships
in
2019,
helped
Kumar
book
his
place
in
the
Tokyo
games.
His
jump
had
won
him
the
bronze
medal
in
the
Men’s
High
Jump
T-47.

Earlier
this
year
in
February,
Nishad
had
set
an
Asian
record
with
his
jump
of
2.06m
at
the
12th
Fazza
International
Championships
for
World
Para
Athletics
Grand
Prix
in
Dubai.
That
jump
helped
him
claim
a
gold
medal
in
his
category
in
Dubai.

Earlier
in
the
day,
table
tennis
player
Bhavina
Patel
started
India’s
account
in
the
Games
by
winning
a
silver
medal.
She
became
the
first
Indian
paddler
to
secure
a
medal
at
the
Paralympics.

The
34-year-old
Patel’s
impressive
run
at
the
Games
ended
with
a
fighting
7-11
5-11
6-11
loss
to
China’s
Ying
Zhou,
a
two-time
gold
medallist,
in
the
women’s
singles
Class
4
summit
clash
which
lasted
19
minutes.