Vinod Kumar won bronze with a best throw of 19.91, which marked India's third medal in the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics.
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Indian para-athlete Vinod Kumar achieved an incredible feat at the Tokyo Paralympics on Sunday, as he managed to bag the bronze medal in the discus throw event. Not only did Kumar win a prestigious medal, but he also smashed the Asian record with a throw of 19.91m. The Paralympics debutant bagged the bronze medal in the men’s Discus Throw F52 final. The throw is also his personal best and it came in his fifth attempt. Polish para-athlete Piotr Kosewicz finished top of the podium, and bagged the gold medal with an incredible throw of 20.02m. He was followed by Croatia’s Velimir Sandor who finished second with a throw of 19.98m.
After his initial attempt, Vinod improved his throw to 18.32m in his second throw. His third throw was a bit disappointing as it was a touch below at 17.80m. However, the Indian improved in his next attempt with a throw of 19.12m, before the medal-clinching fifth throw of 19.91m. He finished off the final with another impressive throw of 19.81m. Vinod’s previous personal best had been an attempt of 19.29m while his season-best was 18.52m.
The F52 classification is for athletes with impaired muscle power, restricted range of movement, limb deficiency or leg length difference, with athletes competing in a seated position. It also applies to cervical cord injury, spinal cord injury, amputation, and functional disorder.
The victory meant that India had won their third medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. The first one was won by Bhavina Patel as she became the first athlete to win India a medal in table tennis. She won the silver medal earlier in the day. The second was bagged in high jump by Nishad Kumar who also secured a silver in the men’s high jump T47 event with an incredible jump of 2.06m. It has been an outstanding performance from India at the Paralympics this year. They are only one medal away from equalling their best-ever medals tally at the Games. They bagged four medals at the Rio Paralympics five years ago.
Kumar had suffered an injury seven months after joining the Border Security Force (BSF) of India which resulted in life-long paralysis. He had only begun playing the sport in 2016 after watching 2016 medallist Deepa Malik, who is the current chief of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI). At the World Para Athletes Grand Prix in 2019, the discus thrower clinched his first medal in the discus throw with a bronze. Two months later, at the Dubai World Championships, he finished fourth, but the throw of 19.29m was enough to book his place in the Tokyo Games.
Earlier in the year, Kumar was unfortunately infected with the dreaded coronavirus, which eventually got better but it took him almost a month to recover. However, the 41-year-old showed great resilience and willpower to bounce back in a pretty strong manner to clinch the gold medal in the Nationals.
