"My only secrets are hard work, training and keeping a good diet."
Indian Paralympian Praveen Kumar flew to victory in the men’s high jump on Friday, September 6, 2024, capturing gold.
The 21-year-old Indian para-athlete cleared 2.08m in the final of the T64 class to win his second Paralympic medal and set an Asian record.
All his clearances, from 1.89 m to 2.08m, were his first attempts, and he wiped the floor with his competition.
After his record-breaking jump, the bar was raised to 2.10m, but Kumar could not clear it.
Nevertheless, he secured victory and the gold medal.
This was India’s sixth gold medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics. They also have nine silver and 11 bronze, bringing their total to 26 medals.
He is also the third high jumper to secure a medal at the Games, with Sharad Kumar and Mariyappan Thangavelu winning a silver and bronze medal in the men’s high jump T63 event.
It is India’s best-ever haul at a single edition of the Paralympic Games.
After Kumar’s win, India went up in the medal table and is now in 14th spot.
Praveen Kumar previously won a silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, where he cleared 2.07m, the Asian record in 2021.
Praveen Kumar, from Noida, Uttar Pradesh, was born with a short leg and achieved athletic success at an early age.
He started his athletic journey with a passion for volleyball after struggling with feelings of inferiority.
However, he eventually chose the high jump after realising he was competing against his able-bodied opponents in a junior event.
He competes in the T44 Paralympic class for athletes with limb deficiencies in the legs, such as amputations or missing or shortened limbs from birth.
His congenital disability affects the bones that connect his hip and left leg.
Kumar said:
“My coach and my family are the keys to my victory. And the whole country of India.”
“I’m happy with my jumps today. My only secrets are hard work, training and keeping a good diet. That is all.”
He was India’s youngest para-athlete to win a medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
In 2023, he also won the gold medal at the Asian Para Games with the then-Asian record and a bronze at the World Para Athletics Championship in 2023.
The USA’s Derek Loccident claimed silver in the T44 and T64 high jump after clearing 2.06m.
Poland’s Maciej Lepiato and Uzbekistan’s Temurbek Giyazov cleared 2.03m and finished joint third.
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