PARIS: It was raining double podium finishes for India in athletics after Ajeet Singh and Sundar Singh Gurjar claimed silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the men’s javelin throw F46 event at the Stade de France at the Paris Paralympics.
While Ajeet and Sundar celebrated their success, on the other side of the stadium, India had another double podium finish, with para-athletes Sharad Kumar and Mariyappan Thangavelu securing silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the men’s high jump T6 final.
Ajeet, in the last gasp, pushed his name for a silver with a personal best throw of 65.62m. His compatriot Sundar, just like in the Tokyo edition, settled for bronze in Paris with his season-best throw of 64.96m. Cuba’s Guillermo ended up at the top of the podium with a humongous effort of 66.14m.
Ajeet, Rinku and Sundar kicked off their campaign with throws of 59.80m, 57.34m and 62.92m, respectively. In the second attempt, Ajeet moved to third by sending his javelin to a distance of 60.53m.
Sundar stayed in the second spot, after Guillermo of Cuba, and continued to soar to new heights. He registered 63.63m on his first attempt and 66.14m on his second.
In the third attempt, Rinku moved to the fourth spot with a throw of 60.58m. His other two compatriots maintained their respective positions.
On the fourth attempt, Sundar bettered his best throw in the final with a throw of 64.96m. Yet even with his best throw, he was unable to go past Guillermo’s 66.14m.
On the fifth attempt, Ajeet pushed his name for a spot on the podium with a remarkable throw of 65.62m. He overtook his compatriot Sundar and occupied the silver medal spot following his personal best attempt.
Rinku, who was the third Indian in the fray, finished fifth with 61.58m being his best attempt.
Meanwhile, in the men’s high jump T6 final, with a leap of 1.88m, Sharad got his hands on a silver medal. His compatriot, Mariyappan, settled for the bronze medal with a leap of 1.85m. America’s Ezra Frech rewrote the Paralympic Record to take away the gold with a blockbuster performance of 1.94m. (ANI)