At the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics, Mariyappan Thangavelu and Sharad Kumar extended India’s strong performance by winning silver and bronze medals in the men’s high jump T-63 class finals.
More About Mariyappan Thangavelu
Mariyappan Thangavelu (born June 28, 1995) is a paralympic high jumper from India. In the men’s high jump T-42 category, he represented India in the 2016 Summer Paralympic games in Rio de Janeiro and the 2020 Summer Paralympic games in Tokyo. He won gold and silver medals respectively in the finals. Since 2004, he has been India’s first Paralympic gold medalist.
On January 25, 2017, the Government of India granted him the Padma Shri award for his service to sports. Arjuna Award was also given to him in the same year. In the year 2020, the Government of India awarded him the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna.
Full Coverage Of The Event
Contest started with jump by Mariyappan, a 1.77m jump in the first attempt. The 26-year-old then went on to clear the 1.80m mark with ease. He crossed the 1.83m mark on his third attempt.
Mariyappan had some difficulties when the bar was raised to 1.86m . It took him three attempts to accomplish the jump cleanly. Following the jump, Mariyappan failed to clear the 1.88m mark and finished second behind Sam Grewe of the United States.
Grewe, who holds the 1.90m jump record, gave Mariyappan a tough fight after starting third and finishing third until the 1.83m try. Sharad had failed to clear the 1.86m mark in each of his three efforts, thus the American leapfrogged him in his third attempt.
Grewe then seized the gold, which appeared to be on its way back to India as he broke the 1.88m barrier for the third time.
Sharad Kumar, on the other hand, had a similar start to the show and was rated first alongside Mariyappan until the 1.83m point. Sharad, on the other hand, fell to third place after failing to break the 1.86m barrier.
Varun Bhatti, the third Indian in the competition, came in seventh place in the finals.
Prime Minister Modi Praises Mariyappan Thangavelu
Mariyappan Thangavelu won silver in the men’s high jump (T63) at the Tokyo Paralympics on Tuesday, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among those who praised him. Sharad Kumar took up the bronze medal in the category, while Thangavelu earned silver. PM Modi tweeted, “Soaring Higher and Higher.” . He also remarked that “Thangavelu is synonymous with consistency and excellence.” . His achievement has made India proud “In his tweet, the Prime Minister added.
