PARIS, SEPT 6 : India\u2019s Praveen Kumar dazzled with a record-breaking performance in the men\u2019s high jump T64 event, adding a Paralympic gold to his Tokyo Games silver here on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 21-year-old from Noida, who was born with a short leg, smashed the Asian record with a best jump of 2.08m in the six-jumper field to finish on top of the podium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The USA\u2019s Derek Loccident claimed the silver with a jump of 2.06m, while Uzbekistan\u2019s Temurbek Giyazov, who notched a personal best of 2.03m, finished third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Opting to start from 1.89m, Kumar aced seven jumps in his first attempt to put himself in pole position to grab the coveted gold medal. The bar was then raised to 2.10m, with both Kumar and Loccident fighting for the top spot on the podium, but both failed to clear the mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was also the 2023 World Championship bronze medallist’s personal best performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
T64 is a classification for athletes whose movement is moderately affected in one lower leg or who are missing one or both legs below the knee. While T44, under which Praveen is categorised, is for athletes with movement affected at a low or moderate degree in one lower leg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His impairment, which is congenital, affects the bones that connect his hip to his left leg. Kumar\u2019s odyssey toward becoming a para-athlete was marked by considerable trials. He often grappled with profound feelings of inadequacy in comparison to his peers as a child. He started playing sports to counter these insecurities and found a passion for volleyball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 opportunities available for athletes with disabilities, igniting a new and inspiring trajectory in his journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is the third high jumper, after Sharad Kumar and Mariyappan Thangavelu, to secure a medal in Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
-PTI<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PARIS, SEPT 6 : India\u2019s Praveen Kumar dazzled with a record-breaking performance in the men\u2019s high jump T64 event, adding a Paralympic gold to his Tokyo Games silver here on<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[348,16],"tags":[15438,25556,25641],"class_list":["post-127639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-sport-news","tag-paris","tag-paris-paralympics-2024","tag-praveen-kumar-strikes-gold-in-t64-high-jump"],"yoast_head":"\n