Nishad gifts himself birthday gift, wins first ever World gold medal

On the day he turned 26, Paralympics medallist Nishad Kumar gave himself and his family the greatest gift after he won the gold medal in the T47 high jump on Friday. The icing on the cake was beating the three-time Paralympics gold medallist Rodrick Townsend for the first time in his career.

Nishad had finished behind Townsend in back to back Paralympics in Tokyo and Paris. Sunday’s gold with a best jump of 2.14metres was also his first ever title in the World Para Athletics Championships having finished second in Kobe (2024) and Paris (2023) and a bronze in the 2019 edition.

There was a slight dampener. After making sure he had won the gold medal, Turkey’s Abdullah Ilgaz, whose best attempt was 2.08m, Nishad chased another of his lifelong dream of setting a new World Record and the bar was set at 2.18m, .02m better than the mark set by Townsend. He failed in all of his three attempts.

“It would have been a perfect day had I set the new world record. I was preparing for it in Paris, but sometimes we overthink and things do not work out, as you want it to. This time everything went well for me today,” he said.

Townsend finished third, as he could not cross 2.08 in his final two attempts. Nishad said there was an added motivation for him as his family, including his mother Pushpa Kumari, was in attendance at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

“Today, the world’s biggest weapon was sitting behind me — my mother. I feel like I am fulfilling their dreams. When she competed in sports, there were not many facilities. Today, I have the world’s best facilities, and I didn’t want to miss out on this opportunity.”

Above all, he was happy to get the better of his old nemesis Townsend. “It was a great achievement for me to beat him for the first time. I remember watching him in 2016 and knowing he would be my competitor. This year, he jumped a few times in front of me, but my coach reminded me that this (beating him) in those meets wasn’t the target,” he explained.

“I have two silver medals. They are on the shelf and I have not even looked at them since I placed them there. I have been waiting for this gold for many years,” he added.

Simran crosses 12 seconds barrier

In the women’s 100m T12 category, India’s Simran Sharma running alongside his guide Umar Saifi won the gold medal in 11.95seconds. This was a personal best for the Paris Paralympics bronze medallist. China’s Liang Yanfen and Nagore Folgado Garcia finished second and third respectively with their guide runners.

“Before this competition, I had told Umar that I have been trying to go under the 12 seconds but haven’t been able to achieve that,” Simran told the media.

“I only realised much later that I have broken the mark. The new Mondo track was of great help as I think it makes us faster,” she added.

The hosts further won two bronze medals on Friday. In the women’s T35 200m final, Preeti Pal finished third with a timing of 30.03 seconds, behind gold medal winner China’s Guo Qianqin (29.30s) and Iraq’s Fatima Suwaed (30.00s). In the men’s discus throw F64 final, Pardeep Kumar won the second gold of the day with a best throw of 46.23m. The gold medal was won by Croatia’s Ivan Katanusic, who threw 55.12m, while USA’s Max Rohn won silver.