India bagged two medals on Sunday at the 2024 Paralympics with Nishad Kumar leading the charge with a silver medal in men’s T47 high jump.
Kumar, a silver medallist from the Tokyo Games three years ago, retained his spot on the podium with a season best effort of 2.04m.
The 24-year-old from Himachal Pradesh passed on the 2.06m height and then failed to go past the 2.08m mark as United States of America’s Roderick Townsend took home the gold medal.
Kumar was one of the favourites to win a medal heading into the competition and his confidence showed as he entered the fray only at 1.95m in a field which started at 1.50m.
He cleared 1.95m, 2m, and 2.04m all with his first attempts before faltering at 2.08m. The other Indian in contention – Ram Pal – finished seventh with a personal best 1.95m.
Preethi Pal wins bronze
Earlier in the day, Preethi Pal won a bronze medal in women’s 200m T35 event. She clocked a personal best 30.01s to finish third behind the two Chinese athletes – Zhou Xia and Guo Qianqian – who pocketed the gold and silver medals respectively.
Pal, thus, became only the second Indian woman after Avani Lekhara at the Tokyo Games in 2021 to win two medals in a single edition of the Paralympics. She had earlier won a bronze medal in women’s 100m T35.
Kumar and Pal’s efforts on Sunday took India’s medal tally at the Paris Paralympics to seven with a gold, two silver, and four bronze medals.
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