Jhajharia part of record haul
TWO-TIME gold-winning javelin athlete Devendra Jhajharia clinched a third Paralympic medal, a silver this time, while discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya also finished second as India surpassed its best-ever medal tally at the Games on Monday (30).
Sundar Singh Gurjar also chipped in with a bronze, finishing behind Jhajharia in the men’s javelin throw F46 final.
The F46 classification is for athletes with arm deficiency, impaired muscle power or impaired passive range of movement in arms, competing in a standing position.
Jhajahria, 40, already India’s greatest Paralympian after winning gold medals in the 2004 and 2016 Games, pulled off a new personal best throw of 64.35m for the silver.
The athlete, who lost his left hand after accidentally touching an electric wire while climbing a tree at the age of eight, bettered his own world record (63.97m), but gold winner Sri Lankan Dinesh Priyan Herath Mudiyanselage (67.79m), who set a new world record, was too good for the entire field.
The 25-year-old Gurjar, who lost his left hand in 2015 after a metal sheet fell on him, was third with a best effort of 64.01m.
The Jaipur-based Gurjar had won gold in the 2017 and 2019 World Para Athletics Championships. He had also won a silver in the 2018 Jakarta Para Asian Games.
Earlier, discus thrower Kathuniya clinched a silver medal in the men’s F56 event.
The 24-year-old, a graduate from New Delhi’s Kirorimal College, sent the disc to a best distance of 44.38m in his sixth and last attempt to clinch the silver. Kathuniya suffered a paralytic attack at the age of eight which left him with coordination impairments in his limbs.
Last Sunday (29), India had picked up a silver (high jump) and a bronze (discus throw), which is on hold due to a protest.
Brazil’s defending champion, reigning world champion and world record holder Claudiney Batista dos Santos won the gold with a best throw of 45.59m, while Leonardo Diaz Aldana (43.36m) of Cuba took the bronze.