Praveen Kumar, the Tokyo Paralympic high jumper, gave Indian athletics a breathtaking turn on Saturday when he spiked a sensational gold in Gujarat’s Nadiad to grow to be the primary para-athlete from the nation to achieve the highest of the podium in able-bodied competition.
In his second attempt, Pravesh cleared the high point of 2.06m and won the gold in a competition with sixteen athletes with a high fitness level. After finishing sixth in the senior national Federation Cup held in Calicut in April, Praveen competed in the able-bodied athletics meet for the second time.
During his best jump of 2.05m earlier in the meet, the para-athlete from Jewar in Greater Noida had twisted his ankle and damaged his leg.
He suffered from deformities in one leg and toes from the beginning. After winning a silver medal at the age of 18, he became the youngest medal winner in the Indian delegation at the Paralympics in Tokyo.
The Korean won silver with a mark of 2.07m in Tokyo’s T64 excessive jump class in a record time for the Asian championships. However, for the T44 incapacity classifications, he does belong to a group of athletes with any leg deficits, abnormal leg size distinctions, or difficulty stimulating muscle activity.
Praveen Kumar is very small for self-discipline like an excessive leap, usually dominated by tall athletes, and has only taken up the game since 2019. He is merely 1.65m in height, and that is rare for one which tall athletes typically dominate.
Praveen is very small for self-discipline like an excessive leap, usually dominated by tall athletes, and has only taken up the game since 2019. He is merely 1.65m in height, and that is rare for one which tall athletes typically dominate.
He hovered to 2.06m at the Nadiad meet after his coach, Dr Satyapal, assigned Praveen to the non-disabled athlete’s category despite the presence of some quite scary junior national campers. He redeemed his mentor’s determination by clearing the mark.
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In an interview with TOI, Satyapal Bhat, a parasport athlete who has been training Praveen at JLN Stadium since 2018, explained that when he first started training para-athletes, I was criticised.
Many non-disabled athletes, coaches and administrators were rude about my training session. Then I decided to train para-athletes to win medals at able-bodied meets by using para-athletes as a training tool. Having that experience was like a dream come true for me
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