Tamil Nadu’s Mariappan Thangavelu, who snatched his ticket to Paralympics with a 1.78m leap at the IPL Grand Prix event, is only the third Indian to win a gold at the Paralympic Games with an outstanding leap of 1.89m.
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India’s other medal prospect Sharad Kumar, who was leading at one stage, failed to sustain his momentum as he finished at number six.
After winning, he headed to the edge of the track where he met fellow countryman Varun Singh Bhati the bronze victor to celebrate.
It applies to athletes with single above the knee amputations or a disability that is comparable.
In the later stages, with the contest reduced to three competitors, Bhati set the tone with a jump of 1.83m along with Thagavelu.
This is India’s first medal at the 2016 Paralympic Games, and with Bhati’s bronze, India now has two medals in this edition.
Eventually, in a nail biting finale, Mariyappan grabbed the top honours in Brazil by finishing with a jump of 1.89m as opposed to Sam Grewe’s and Varun Bhati’s reach of 1.86m.
At the age of five, a bus accident left him with a permanent disability. In 2014, Varun won gold at the China Open Athletics Championship and finished fifth at the Asian Paralympic Games in Incheon, South Korea.
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The Indian Express reported, “Just when it looked like India would have a gold and a silver to take home, the American cleared the hurdle of 1.86m to grab the top spot but the Indians also equalled the height to make it even”.
