Tokyo Paralympics as it happened: Sumit, Avani win golds; 3 other athletics medals

Features to read:

Devendra Jhajharia has his moment in the sun

Meet shooter Avani Lekhara, the first Indian woman to win a Paralympics gold

Meet Sumit Antil, wrestler-turned-javelin thrower who never gave up on his dreams

8.10 pm: What a day it was for India. Another action-packed day coming up.

This is like a dream come true: Avani Lekhara on how hard work is the key.

Men’s 100m - T64: This one went right down to the wire for the bronze medal. Felix Streng won the clear gold medal, Costa Rica’s Guity won the silver and we have two bronze medallists. Floors and two-champion Peacock.

What a day for India: A special, special day. Remember the day. Remember the athletes.

Gold: Avani Lekhara (Shooting)
Silver: Yogesh Kathuniya (Discus)
Bronze: Sundar Singh Gurjar (Javelin F46)
Silver: Devendra Jhajharia (Javelin F46)
Gold: Sumit Antil (Javelin F64)

Men’s 100m T63: Another WR on the track with Anton Prokhorov winning with a time of 12.04.

Men’s Javelin Throw - F64 Final: A look at the complete standings.

Men’s Javelin Throw - F64 Final: Sumit Antil secures his gold medal with a most superlative of performances. He broke his own World Record thrice in the competition and truth to be told, it always felt like the others were just fighting for silver and bronze.

Men’s Javelin Throw - F64 Final: Sandeep finishes fourth in the event. He started well but was unable to build on it. His best throw was 62.20.

Men’s Javelin Throw - F64 Final: 68.55! Sumit improves his WR for the third time tonight. Simply amazing.

Men’s Javelin Throw - F64 Final: Sandeep is not getting the distance he wants. He makes it another foul throw. Looking a little despondent now.

Men’s Javelin Throw - F64 Final: Sri Lanka’s Dulan Kodithuwakku goes big again. Closing the gap to Sumit.

Men’s Javelin Throw - F64 Final: Sandeep’s fourth throw isn’t good enough either. He walks over the line and makes it a foul. Still in fourth.

Men’s Javelin Throw - F64 Final: With three rounds gone, the order will now change. Sumit will now throw last as he is in the lead. Only the top 8 competitors remain.

Men’s Javelin Throw - F64 Final: Sri Lanka’s Dulan Kodithuwakku moves into the silver medal position with a throw of 63.49. A new PR for for the F44 category.

Men’s Javelin Throw - F64 Final: Sandeep improves in his best today with a throw of 62.20 but he is still stuck in 4th place.

Men’s Javelin Throw - F64 Final: The third throw isn’t a WR but at 65.27 it is still better than what any other competitor has thrown today. Sumit is clearly in a class of his own here.

Men’s Javelin Throw - F64 Final: Sandeep has been pushed down to the fourth place. Australia’s Michal Burian climbs into the silver medal position with a throw of 62.86.

Men’s Javelin Throw - F64 Final: Sandeep’s second attempt is a foul. Didn’t get the distance he wanted and stepped over the line. In bronze medal position currently.

Men’s Javelin Throw - F64 Final: Second throw from Sumit and second WR of the day. He goes even bigger – 68.08m. His PB coming into the event was 62.88.

Men’s Javelin Throw - F64 Final: Sumit starts off by breaking his own world record with a throw of 66.95 in his very first attempt. Boom! Sandeep follows a little with a throw of 61.13

Men’s Javelin Throw - F64 Final: Sandeep and Sumit have put up some good numbers this season. They have PBs of 66.18 and 62.88 respectively. Only Australian’s Michel Burian comes close with a PB of 63.02.

Next up for India: The Men’s Javelin Throw - F64 Final at 3.30 pm. India’s Sumit Antil and Sandeep will be taking part.

Bronze medal rescinded: India’s Vinod Kumar has lost his medal after the classification panel was unable to allocate with a sport class. He is therefore ineligible for the Men’s F52 Discus medal event. Below is the press release:

Avani Lekhara met with an accident and was confined to a wheelchair in 2012 and took up shooting in 2015 as a hobby after her father took her to a range during one summer vacation. Know more about India’s first woman Paralympic gold medallists.

Tokyo 2020: Meet shooter Avani Lekhara, the first Indian woman to win a Paralympics gold

RECAP:

Watch: Avani Lekhara’s medal ceremony as she becomes first Indian woman to win Paralympics gold

Tokyo Paralympics, javelin throw: Devendra Jhajharia wins silver, Sundar Singh Gurjar takes bronze

Tokyo Paralympics, athletics: Yogesh Kathuniya wins silver in men’s discus throw F56

Pure gold: That effort by Dinesh Priyan Herath Mudiyanselage to smash the WR and win gold in the men’s F46 javelin.

World records galore: There was a WR in the men’s javelin F46 and there was also one in the pool. China’s youngest Paralympian broke her own world record in the pool in Tokyo today, a day after Norwegian former refugee Salum Ageze Kashafali ran the fastest Paralympic Games 100 metres in history.

Dubbed the “Flying Fish”, 16-year-old Jiang Yuyan set an S6 50m butterfly world record of 34.56sec in Monday morning’s heats, knocking 0.30sec off the mark she set in winning the 2019 World Championships in London as a 14-year-old.

Jiang, who lost her right arm and right leg after being hit by a truck when she was three, only took up swimming aged eight and will compete for her maiden Paralympics gold in the final later today.

Records have been falling on a daily basis at the Tokyo Games, and Norway’s Kashafali on Sunday became the fastest 100m runner in Paralympic history when he crossed the line in 10.46sec in the T12 final.

Discus Throw F52: Vinod Kumar’s classification evaluation is on. The Indian had set a new Asian record with an attempt of 19.91 in the final to win the bronze medal on Sunday. But the organisers put the result under review later in the day due to his medical qualifications.

Paralympic disability categories under fire: They’re supposed to be about making parasports fair, but the category system central to disabled sports and the Paralympics, which classifies athletes according to their impairment, is increasingly under fire. Ten types of impairment are accepted at the Paralympics, broadly covering physical, visual, and intellectual disabilities. But within each impairment category there are a vast range of abilities, so athletes are further divided by class in a system designed to ensure people compete against others with approximately the same capabilities. Physical impairments cover numbers 1-10, with the number lower the more severe the impairment. Vision impairments go from 11-13, while 14 indicates intellectual impairment. The system is complicated and time-consuming, and some athletes feel it is failing.

French swimmer Theo Curin, whose lower legs and hands were amputated after a bout of meningitis as a child, is sitting out the Tokyo Games over his unhappiness with the system and how athletes are assessed.

“Overnight, two people who swim with both their hands appeared in my S5 category. You don’t have to be very smart to understand that having two hands in swimming helps a lot,” the 21-year-old said.

US swimming star Jessica Long, who won her 14th Paralympic gold on Saturday, has said “the incentive to cheat is huge” given the increasing fame and financial rewards enjoyed by successful para-athletes.

“I can’t watch this sport that I love continue to get destroyed like this,” she told Sports Illustrated last year.

WHAT A MOMENT: First Abhinav Bindra, now Avani Lekhara. The Indian national anthem at the biggest stage after a shooting event. Given how his journey played a part in hers, it is a very fitting moment.

Shooting, R1 - Men’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 FINAL: Heartbreak it is. The final was sweet till the 16th shot for Swaroop, but from the lead at that point, he finishes 4th. This is how the podium looks, with Dong Chao taking gold for China.

Shooting, R1 - Men’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 FINAL Swaroop is eliminated after 20 shots. The narrative today had to have a 4th place heartbreak, it would seem. Misses the podium by 0.4 effectively.

Shooting, R1 - Men’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 FINAL: Needs to avoid the next elimination, does Swaroop. Massive two shots coming up.

Shooting, R1 - Men’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 FINAL: Ah shooting, you cruel beast. A 9.9 and 9.5 in the 17th and 18th shot and Swaroop has moved to 4th. Good news is still all very close.

Shooting, R1 - Men’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 FINAL: And Swaroop is back on top! A superb 10.7 and 10.5 from his 15th and 16th shots.

Shooting, R1 - Men’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1: FINAL: Swaroop was briefly in the first spot. But after 14 shots and into the elimination stages he is placed second. But it is very close at the top, 0.1 the difference with CHN.

Shooting, R1 - Men’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1: FINAL: A good start for Swaroop after the first 10 shots in the final. Placed second as we head into the eliminations.

Shooting, R1 - Men’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1: Alright then, time for another final! Swaroop Unhalkar in action.

The Devendra Jhajharia journey. 

Gold medal in Athens 2004. World record. Not too much of a reception, though.

His event not a part of Beijing 2008, London 2012. A long wait. Added back for Rio... 

Gold medal in Rio 2016. Another world record, breaking his own world record. It happened when India was sleeping, mostly. He was expected to win but the time zone (partly) meant India only woke up to his greatness that morning.  

Was he done? Nope, not yet. 

Silver medal in Tokyo 2020. Better than his previous WR still, but the Sri Lanka goes even better. And this time around, the buzz was there long back. The anticipation was there. The limelight was there. And, now 40 years old, Jhajharia had his moment in the land of the rising sun. 

So... to recap: 

GOLD: Avani Lekhara (Shooting) 

SILVER: Yogesh Kathuniya (Discus) 

BRONZE: Sundar Singh Gurjar (Javelin) 

SILVER: Devendra Jhajharia (Javelin) 

In one morning session alone, India have won as many medals as they did in entire Rio 2016

Athletics, men’s Javelin Throw - F46 Final CUBAN athlete did not pip Gurjar and that means TWO MEDALS CONFIRMED FOR INDIA

Shooting, R1 - Men’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 Qualification: Deepak missed out, finishing 20th. Swaroop through to the final in 7th place!

Athletics, men’s Javelin Throw - F46 Final Sundar Singh Gurajar moves into the third position! As javelin throwers do, he knew it the moment he released it. India 2-3 again. Devendra did not like his 5th attempt, so it is another foul from him. He heads over to the coach for some inputs. Can he produce one moment of magic here?

PHOTO FRAME: There she is. The GOLD MEDALLIST Avani Lekhara. (Courtesy: Shooting Para)

Athletics, men’s Javelin Throw - F46 Final: BBoth Sundar and Devendra make intentional fouls for their fourth attempts, wasn’t quite close to their best. They need something special in the last two attempts. At least Sundar does. He is capable of better than what he is throwing at the moment.

An older SAI media video about Avani Lekhara:

Athletics, Men’s Discus Throw - F56 Final: SILVER MEDAL CONFIRMED FOR YOGESH KATHUNIYA!

Athletics, men’s Javelin Throw - F46 Final:Devendra Jhajharia goes past his previous world record once again but in a slight twist of fate the Sri Lankan athlete had just broken the mark with a sensational 67.79 with this third attempt. India 2-3 briefly but CUBA’s Varona Gonzalez goes past him with a continental record. Sundar in 4th as we go for the final three attempts. All three Indians have made the cut, for the record. But Ajeet Singh is not close at the moment.

Men’s Discus Throw - F56 Final: Kathuniya in silver medal position with just one athlete yet to come. Can he stay there?

Athletics, men’s Javelin Throw - F46 Final: Not the best of starts for Devendra, but he goes tend to get better with his efforts if Rio was any evidence

R2 - Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 FINAL: MEET AVANI LEKHARA, FOLKS!

Sport: Shooting - 10m Air Rifle (SH1B)
Date of Birth: 8/11/2001
Hometown: Jaipur, Rajasthan
Current Training Base: JDA Shooting Range, Jaipur
Classification Category: SH1 B
Nature of Disability: Traumatic Paraplegia
(by accident in 2012)

R2 - Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 FINAL: GOLD MEDAL ALERT! AVANI LEKHARA HAS DONE IT! In the R2 - Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 FINAL the Indian 19-year-old has created history. The first woman from India to win a Paralympics gold medal. And she does it in style with a Paralympic Record and Equal World Record.

R2 - Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 FINAL: SHE IS IN THE TOP 2! And with a handy lead.

MEDAL CONFIRMED: Medal CONFIRMED! R2 - Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 FINAL: Avani Lekhara is in the top three... well, she is in the top one technically as we head to the final stages.

MEDAL CONFIRMED: Yogesh Kathuniya in men’s discus throw F56 will finish on the podium for sure... the world record holder and Rio champ on now.

R2 - Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 FINAL: We are down to the top five and Avani Lekhara is now in the lead and looking in superb shape for more than just a podium finish

Athletics, men’s Javelin Throw - F46 Final: Not the best of starts for Devendra, but he goes tend to get better with his efforts if Rio was any evidence. Ajeet Singh will seek the most improvement.

Sundar Singh Gurjar: 62.58

Devendra Jhajharia: 60.28

Ajeet Singh: 56.15

R2 - Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 FINAL: This is looking more than just good at the moment. Avani Lekhara is placed at the top as we head into the elimination stages.

Athletics, men’s Javelin Throw - F46 Final: Sundar goes first and he starts with a SB of 62.58. That’s a solid effort but he knows he can do more than that.

Sundar Singh Gurjar: 62.58

Devendra Jhajharia:

Ajeet Singh:

R2 - Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 FINAL: Avani Lekhara has started superbly.

Athletics, men’s Javelin Throw - F46 Final: All eyes, of course, will be on the legendary Devendra Jhajharia, who will be gunning for an unprecedented third Paralympics gold medal. Having won the gold in Athens 2004, Jhajharia had to wait till Rio 2016 for a second chance at the world’s biggest stage as the F46 category was not included in 2008 and 2012. But he grabbed his chance in Brazil with a world record to eclipse his own world record and clinch gold. While Jhajharia is the headliner, look out for Sundar Singh Gurjar a serious contender for podium if not gold. He had an unfortunate experience in Rio as missed the call for his event and could not compete, and it was in an event where he was seen as a serious medal hope then as well. Back on the circuit, and in for, he will fancy his chances. And there is Ajeet Singh too, who is a podium contender. Three Indians out of nine finalists. The odds, and the pedigree, make this a potential blockbuster for India.

Shooting, R1 - Men’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 Qualification: Deepak and Swaroop in action here and the qualfication has started. We will return to this event at the end as there are some finals to keep an eye on. Updates less frequently.

Athletics, Men’s Discus Throw - F56 Final: Well, well. DIAZ ALDANA Leonardo (CUB) who had a PB of 45.65 (Rio 2016 bronze medallist) finishes with a best of 43.36 and that keeps Yogesh Kathuniya at the top for now. Four athletes left, including the world record holder and Rio 2016 champion.

Athletics, Men’s Discus Throw - F56 Final: Among the athletes left to throw, two have a PB better than 44.38m. Brazil’s BATISTA dos SANTOS Claudiney is the World Record holder and he will be the firm favourite. DIAZ ALDANA Leonardo (CUB) is next and he has a PB to challenge Yogesh’s mark. But it will be a while before we find out the results here. It all augurs well, now we wait.

Athletics, Men’s Discus Throw - F56 Final: Good stuff from Yogesh Kathuniya! The 24-year-old improves his SB progressively from 42.84 to 43.55 and then finishes with 44.38 (just short of 44.47 which is his PB) and he will now wait for the rest of the field to see how they go.

Athletics, Men’s Discus Throw - F56 Final: Here we go then. Yogesh starts off... a foul with his first attempt. And a 42.84 with his 2nd! That is solid.

Athletics, Men’s Discus Throw - F56 Final: Yogesh Kathuniya, 2019 World Championship bronze medallist, will be up next in the throwing order. He is world No 2, his Personal Best is 44.47 but his Season Best is 34.76. Can he get close to his PB? Tough to gauge form this year, so let’s see.

R2 - Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 Qualification: Avani Lekhara is through to the final! She recovers superbly from a slow start and finishes 7th in the field. Final coming up at 7.30 am. (Unfortunately, that will be live scores as well as shooting broadcast doesn’t start till August 1)

Avani Lekhara’s series: 103.0 102.8 104.9 104.8 102.1 104.1

Athletics, Men’s Discus Throw - F56 Final: Olympic Stadium is where there is plenty to look forward to today. Here are the two events lined up for morning, starting with Yogesh Kathuniya in Discus Throw. It is F56, which is seated discus throw.

Classification: In the 50s sport classes, all athletes compete in a seated position, either in wheelchair or on a throwing chair, due to impaired muscle power, restricted range of movement, limb deficiency or leg length difference. A lower number indicates a higher activity limitation. Throughout the sport classes F55-57 the trunk and leg function increases, which is an advantage in throwing events. An athlete in the F55 class has partial to full abdominal muscle activity, but no leg function. Athletes in class F56 can partially bend their hips and legs in addition to having trunk function, while athletes in class F57 demonstrate the additional ability to extend and abduct the hips. Athletes in class F57 may be able to stand and walk with or without an assistive device, but have to at the very least comply with the defined minimum impairment criteria.

R2 - Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 Qualification: A few low 10s in the 5th series and Avani Lekhara is now at the 8th spot with one series left. Most shooters are done, but the 2 shooters still going are vying for one spot essentially.

Avani Lekhara’s series: 103.0 102.8 104.9 104.8 102.1

Athletics, men’s discus throw F52: Also if any of you are wondering / reading this thread, no official update on Vinod Kumar’s event yet. Still “under review” but we should get a decision during the next few hours hopefully)

R2 - Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 Qualification: she is going well now, is Avani. A really good third series of 104.9. In top 8. No sub-10 in that series of 10 shots. In fact 104.9, at a quick glance across the leaderboard, is one of the best series registered so far.

Avani Lekhara’s series: 103.0, 102.8, 104.9

R2 - Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 Qualification: A couple more sub-10s in that series that she would have liked to avoid but otherwise she is shooting high-10s. In and around the top 8 as things are.

Avani Lekhara’s series: 103.0, 102.8.

R2 - Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 Qualification: Well, there is some good news. Avani’s scores are indeed moving again and she has zoomed up to the top 10 (based on her average score) with a solid first series of 103 (especially after a slow start).

About shooting classification: The sport’s three classes are SH1 Pistol, SH1 Rifle (able to hold a gun with arms) and SH2 Rifle (unable to hold a gun with arms, so a stand is used). SH1 Rifle sport class athletes can support the full weight of the rifle themselves. As the rifle is held with both hands, athletes in this sport class have an impairment in their legs, for example amputations or paraplegia. Some athletes will compete in a seated position, while others will compete in a standing position.

R2 - Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 Qualification: Avani Lekhara’s scores are not quite moving at the moment. After a 9.7 & 9.8 to begin with, it took a while. Then she shot a 10.5. And now it is stuck again. Shooters can all go at their own pace, but this is usually not a good sign when it happens early in the first series.

R2 - Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 Qualification: Avani Lekhara, who is part of four events in Tokyo, is currently shooting in the qualification round. She is on the first series with only two shots registers out of the 10 (six series of 10 shots). We wonder if there is a problem.

05.02 am: First up, Avani Lekhara in the first shooting event for India. Qualification is underway.

05.00 am: Hello everyone and welcome to our daily live coverage of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. On Sunday, India’s National Sports Day, there was a rollercoaster ride for the Indian contingent from the start to finish.

On paper, India have won three medals on the day. Even if one was already assured and one is, for now, on hold... it was anything if not memorable. Now, on paper, Monday promises to be magnificently manic. It has the makings of a truly remarkable day for Indian sport. Of course, sport is not played on paper, but Indian sports fans can look forward to the Paralympians perform on Monday, 30 August in Tokyo with a sense of excitement. Buckle in!

Day 5 recap: On Saturday, India kickstarted what is widely expected to be an unprecedented haul of medals at the Paralympic Games.

Bhavinaben Patel clinched a historic silver in table tennis to give India its first medal in Tokyo Paralympics before high jumper Nishad Kumar came. The celebrations of a Super Sunday were somewhat dampened at the end after discus thrower Vinod Kumar’s bronze-winning result was put on hold.

Patel became only the second Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympics after she signed off on her singles campaign with a silver medal following a 0-3 loss to world number one Chinese paddler Ying Zhou in the women’s singles table tennis class 4 final. Nishad then clinched a silver with an equal Personal Best and Asian record before discus thrower Vinod fetched a bronze (also with an Asian Record). But that result is under after a reported protest over his disability classification.