Paris Paralympics: Double podium finishes for India as Dharambir takes gold, Pranav silver

PARIS: The series of double podium finishes continued for India after para-athletes Dharambir and Pranav Soorma bagged gold and silver medals, respectively, in the men’s club throw F51 final at the ongoing Paris Paralympics.

Following another podium finish, India’s medal total at the Paris Paralympics skyrocketed to 24, including five gold, nine silver and 10 bronze. The Indian contingent is now one medal away from hitting the 25-medal target set by the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) President Devendra Jhajharia.

Dharambir’s record-breaking throw levelled India’s tally of five gold medals that came in the Tokyo edition three years ago.

Dharambir broke the Asian Record and set 34.92m as the new benchmark to take away the gold. His compatriot Pranav was close to Dharambir but ended up being too far. He settled for the silver medal with a throw of 34.59m.

In a spectacular display of strength and skill, Dharambir has earned Bharat’s first-ever Gold Medal in the Men’s Club Throw F51 at #Paralympics2024! This historic win marks Bharat’s first Gold medal in the Paralympics in the event.
His achievement is a testament to perseverance… pic.twitter.com/y5iepS67fA

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) September 4, 2024

Notably, this result was a reverse of the podium at last year’s Para Asian Games. During that final, it was Pranav who struck gold and Dharambir settled for silver.

Meanwhile, the third Indian in the fray, Amit Kumar Saroha, was well short of a podium finish with his best attempt of 23.96m.

After failing to register a single valid throw in his first four attempts, Dharambir, who hails from Sonipat, broke the Asian record in his fifth attempt with a humongous throw of 34.92m. He followed it up with another massive attempt of 31.59m to cap off his impressive display.

Pranav produced the silver-winning throw of 34.59m in his first attempt and constantly struck the 33m mark in his remaining five attempts.

Serbia’s Zeljko Dimitrijevic, who was the biggest threat to the Indian pair, produced his bronze medal throw of 34.18m in his second attempt. The Serbian was one of the favourites to take away the top spot, with two gold and one silver medal at the last three Paralympics.

India enjoyed double podium finishes on Tuesday too after Ajeet Singh and Sundar Singh Gurjar claimed silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the men’s javelin throw F46 event and moments later, duo of Mariyappan Thangavelu and Sharad Kumar won the bronze and silver medals in the men’s high jump T6 final.

Before Dharambir’s heroics at Stade de France on Wednesday, para-archer Harvinder Singh added fourth gold to India’s medal tally. He outplayed Poland’s Lukasz Ciszek and scripted history by winning India’s first-ever gold medal in para archery at the Paralympics.

Among other gold medal winners, para-shooter shooter Avani Lekhra got her hands on the nation’s first gold at the Paris Paralympics with a sensational display in the women’s 10m air rifle final.

While para-shuttler Nitesh Kumar ousted Great Britain’s second-seeded Daniel Bethell in the men’s singles SL3 category final to add a second gold to India’s record-breaking haul.

Javelin thrower Sumit Antil was the third gold medal winner for India at the Paris Paralympics following his record-breaking attempt of 70.59m in the javelin throw F64 class final. (ANI)