LEAP of faith: Praveen Kumar’s record-breaking jump gets country sixth gold

High jumper Praveen Kumar upgraded his Tokyo silver to a gold with a record-smashing performance, helping India nose ahead of the likes of Canada and South Korea in the overall standings as the country’s para-athletes continued to defy projections in their best ever Paralympics performance here.

The 21-year-old from Noida, who was born with a short leg, jumped to a new Asian record of 2.08 metres in the T64 category, which also featured athletes of the T44 classification. He clinched the top honours ahead of USA’s Derek Loccident (2.06m) and Uzbekistan’s Temurbek Giyazov (2.03m).

Before I took off for the 2.08m jump that fetched me the gold medal, I closed my eyes and saw my parents and coach urging me to go for the record Praveen Kumar

T64 is for athletes with movement moderately affected in one leg or the absence of one or both legs below the knee, while T44, to which Praveen belongs, is for athletes with movement affected at a low or moderate degree in one leg.

The country’s medal haul swelled to 26 — six gold, nine silver and 11 bronze medals. The performance surpasses all pre-Games projections and with one more day of competitions left, it is expected to get better.

Opting to start from 1.89m, Kumar aced seven jumps in his first attempt to put himself in pole position. The bar was then raised to 2.10m, with Kumar and Loccident fighting for the top spot but both failed to clear the mark.

Kumar, who was also the 2023 World Championship bronze medallist, recorded not just an Asian record but his personal best performance too.

He is the third Indian high jumper after Sharad Kumar and Mariyappan Thangavelu to secure a medal in Paris. Sharad and Thangavelu won silver and bronze in the men’s high jump T63 event.

Kumar’s impairment, which is congenital, affects the bones that connect his hip to his left leg. Kumar confessed to grappling with feelings of inadequacy in his formative years.

He started playing sports to deal with his insecurities and found a passion for volleyball. But his life changed when he took part in a high jump event at an able-bodied athletics competition.

In nick of time

Just three months before the Paralympic Games, Kumar was grappling with a groin injury, which stopped him from going for gold at the World Championships. But thanks to the efforts of his coach Satyapal Singh and his never-say-die attitude, Kumar was up and running within 15 days and preparing in earnest for the Paralympics.

“I want to give credit for my success to my coach, my sponsors and my physiotherapist. When I got injured three month back, they supported me wholeheartedly. I had a groin problem and I want to thank all of them for their support,” said Kumar, who hails from Govindgarh village in Gautam Budh Nagar in UP.

The high jumper added that following his recovery, his coach kept pushing him to cross 2.05m in training. “He kept focusing on that 2.05m mark. Every time I went for the jump, I was only aiming for my personal best,” he said.

“Before I took off for the 2.08m jump that fetched me the gold medal, I closed my eyes and saw my parents and coach urging me to go for the record. I thought they had always wanted me to win the gold here,” he added.