Tokyo Paralympics 2021: 18-year-old Praveen Kumar bags silver medal and marks a new Asian record!

Today, the 18-year-old Praveen Kumar clinched a silver medal in the men’s high jump T64 event. He also made a new Asian record during the event by jumping 2.07m. Great Britain’s Jonathan Broom-Edwards won the gold medal with the highest jump of 2.10m. Poland’s Maciej Lepiato, meanwhile, finished third with a successful 2.04m jump. 

The high jumper said that he has no knowledge of high jump except sports videos from Google. Praveen Kumar said, “I would watch videos of high jump on Google and try and learn from it. There was nobody to teach me. Later, during a district-level meeting, I was told about coach Dr. Satyapal and met him and he agreed to train me.” 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to his Twitter account to congratulate Praveen on the stellar achievement. Our PM wrote, “Proud of Praveen Kumar for winning the Silver medal at the #Paralympics. This medal is the result of his hard work and unparalleled dedication. Congratulations to him. Best wishes for his future endeavours. #Praise4Para.” 

Also today, 19-year-old Avani Lekhara won her second medal in Tokyo Paralympics 2021 to become the first Indian woman who won multiple medals at a single Paralympic games. With Praveen Kumar and Avani Lekhara’s medals, India’s total medal tally rose up to the iconic count of 12.

Interestingly, India has won 12 medals totally in Paralympics from 1972 to 2016 but our champions have scored 12 medals in the Tokyo Paralympics 2021 alone. Interestingly, there are still 3 days of events remaining before the closing ceremony of the 2021 Paralympics. Indian players are scripting new history every day at the Tokyo Paralympics 2021.

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