High jumper Praveen Kumar wins gold at Paris Paralympics

Paris: India's Praveen Kumar dazzled with a record-breaking performance in the men's high jump T64 event, adding a Paralympic gold to his Tokyo Games silver here on Friday.

The 21-year-old from Noida, who was born with a short leg, smashed the Asian record with a best effort of 2.08m in the six-jumper field to finish on top of the podium.

American Derek Loccident claimed the silver with a jump of 2.06m while Uzbekistan's Temurbek Giyazov, who cleared a personal best 2.03m, finished third.

Opting to start from 1.89m, Kumar put himself in pole position to grab the coveted gold medal.

The bar was then raised to 2.1m, with both Kumar and Loccident fighting for the top spot on the podium but both failed to clear the mark.

This was also the 2023 World Championship bronze medallist's personal best performance.

Kumar's impairment, which is congenital, affects the bones that connect his hip to his left leg.

Kumar's 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 turned to sports to counter these insecurities and found a passion for volleyball.

Kumar's 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.

He is the third Indian high jumper after Sharad Kumar and Mariyappan Thagavelu to secure a medal in Paris.