Picture Credit: Twitter
In the Paralympic Games that has already become India's best performance ever since the inception of the event, para-athlete Praveen Kumar added to India's medal's tally on Friday. While the nation has breached the double-digit medals mark in the medals tally for the first time ever, Praveen made sure that they keep on adding the medals as he bagged a silver at the Men's High Jump T64 Event.
While he cleared 1.83 metres in his first attempt and gave the 1.93 meters attempt a pass. He returned for the second attempt and cleared the distance of 1.97 meters. This placed him joint top along with Briant's Jonathan Edwards and Poland's Maciej Lepiato. At the end of the tie-breaker, Praveen settled for silver but became the youngest Indian to win a medal at the Paralympic Games aged 18 years. He also broke the Asian record in the process.
Here are some of the details you might be curious to know after his medal-winning performance at the Paralympic Games:
Name: Praveen Kumar
Age: 18 Years
Born on: 15 May 2003
Hails From: Uttar Pradesh
Profession: High jumper
Coach: Satyapal Singh
Achievements: Apart from bagging the silver medal at the ongoing Paralympic Games during which he breaked the Asian record of 2.07 m mark, the teenager had earlier shattered the Asian record at the 12th International World Para Athletics Grand Prix. Notably, he had won the gold medal as he produced a jump of 2.05 m in the men's high jump F42/44/64 event. It was a personal best for Praveen which helped India bag a silver medal at Tokyo Paralympics.
Praveen began competing only in 2019 and narrowly missed out on the bronze at the 2019 Junior World Para Athletics Championships. However, his fourth-place finish at the Games was enough for him to secure qualification for the Paralympic Games.
Quotes: "I can't explain how I feel. This jump was ecstatic. This is my first Paralympic Games and I am waiting to see what lies ahead," he said after the Paralympics final.
"My confidence was boosted immensely after I jumped 2 m. It was a little low before, but after I jumped over that 2m mark, it just skyrocketed," he said. "Now, I've done 2.07 m, and that is a massive leap. I credit my coach with this feat," he added.
