NEW DELHI:Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation with Paris Paralympic medal winners Praveen Kumar and Hokato Hotozhe Sema.
Praveen secured the gold medal for the country at the ongoing Paris Paralympics in the men’s high jump T64 final, while Hokato Hotozhe Sema took the bronze medal in the men’s shot put F57 final.
In the medal round, Praveen performed a record-breaking jump of 2.08m. With his phenomenal jump, he created history by establishing an all-new Asian record on Friday.
PM Modi discussed with Praveen how he took advantage of the internet during his training, which helped him improve his performance.
PM Modi appreciated the efforts of Hokato Hotozhe Sema to win a medal in his very first Paralympics at the age of 40 years.
In the medal match, Hokato recorded the best throw of 14.65m, which is also his personal best now. Iran’s Yashin Khosravi secured the gold with a throw of 15.96m, while the silver went to Thiago Paulino dos Santos of Brazil after he threw 15.06m.
Hokato opened up about the moment he faced the lowest point of his life and told ANI, “In 2014, when I was posted in J&K, I lost my leg in a landmine during an operation. To prevent infection, my leg was amputated. That was the lowest time of my life.”
India’s medal tally in the ongoing Paralympics has gone up to 27, with six golds, nine silvers, and 12 bronzes. This is the highest number of golds India secured in a single edition of the Paralympic Games event, outdoing the total of five golds in Tokyo 2020.
India also broke the record for securing its highest-ever medal haul in a single edition of the Paralympics. Three years ago, in the Tokyo edition, India ended the marquee event with a medal haul of 19.
In the ongoing Paris Paralympics, India has competed across 12 disciplines, three more than Tokyo 2020. Indian para-athletes took part in three new sports, including para-cycling, para-rowing and blind judo. (ANI)