High jumper Nishad Kumar clinched a Silver with an Asian record before discus thrower Vinod Kumar fetched a Bronze which was put on hold after a protest over his disability classification as India began collecting what is expected to be an unprecedented haul of athletics medals in the Paralympics here on Sunday.
Vinod’s classification in F52, which is for athletes with impaired muscle power, restricted range of movement, limb deficiency or leg length difference, was done on August 22 by the organisers.
It was not clear on what grounds the classification has been challenged.
“Results of this event are currently under review due to classification observation in competition. The Victory Ceremony has been postponed to the evening session of 30th August,” read a statement from the Games organisers.
India’s Chef de Mission Gursharan Singh told PTI that Vinod’s medal stands for now.
“There was a protest from one country or may be more than one, we don’t know as it can’t be revealed, that there could be issues on the classification done on Vinod before the start of Paralympics,” he said.
“Vinod’s result, that is his Bronze, still stands and a decision is unlikely to come today as it is very late now. It’s expected tomorrow,” he added.
The 21-year-old Nishad, who is a farmer’s son in Himachal Pradesh’s Amb town, cleared 2.06m to win the Silver in T47 class before 41-year-old BSF man Vinod, whose father fought in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, produced a best throw of 19.91m to clinch a Bronze.
The 24-member Indian athletics team is hoping for a rich haul of medals — at least 10 — and the double success on Sunday gave the country enough reasons to smile on the National Sports Day.
Nishad, whose right hand got cut by a grass-cutting machine at his family’s farm when he was an eight-year-old boy, cleared the same height of 2.06m with American Dallas Wise who was also awarded a Silver.
Another American, Roderick Townsend, won the Gold with a world record jump of 2.15m.
The second Indian in the fray, Ram Pal, finished fifth with a best jump of 1.94m.
T47 class is meant for athletes with a unilateral upper limb impairment resulting in some loss of function at the shoulder, elbow and wrist.
“Absolutely delighted that Nishad Kumar wins the Silver medal in Men’s High Jump T47. He is a remarkable athlete with outstanding skills and tenacity. Congratulations to him,” tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In Vinod’s event, also set an Asian record while winning the Bronze medal. Piotr Kosewicz (20.02m) of Poland and Velimir Sandor (19.98m) of Croatia won the Gold and Silver respectively.
He injured his legs while training after joining the BSF, falling off a cliff in Leh that left him bed-ridden for close to a decade during which he lost both his parents.