Praveen’s first medal in Paralympics, won medal with a high jump of 2.07 meters in three attempts
Tokyo, Sep 3 (IANS)| India’s para athlete Praveen Kumar won a silver medal in the men’s high jump T64 event at the Tokyo Paralympic Games released here on Friday. Praveen finished second with a personal best jump of 2.07m. Praveen’s silver medal was India’s 11th medal at Tokyo 2020. However, after some time, Para shooter Avani Lekhra won the bronze medal in the women’s 50m Rifle Three Position SH1 event, giving the country its 12th medal.
Britain’s Jonathan Broome-Edwards won the gold with a final jump of 2.10m, while Poland’s Maisel Lepiato took the bronze with a jump of 2.04m. Praveen faced a challenge from Lepiato and Jonathan. But Lepiato could not jump 2.07m in three attempts and the fight was limited between Jonathan and Praveen.
Jonathan jumped 2.10m in his second attempt but Praveen could not match his score in all three attempts and ended his challenge with 2.07m, his personal best score and Asian record. This is Praveen’s first medal in Paralympics. He had earlier won a silver medal in the men’s high jump T44 event at the 2019 World Para Athletics Junior Championships and a gold medal with an Asian record at this year’s Faza Grand Prix World Para Athletics in Dubai.
Interestingly, Praveen didn’t know anything about para sport or high jump till a few years back. He was interested in volleyball but once he participated in high jump competition and he fell in love with athletics especially high jump.