It's a double win for India at Rio Paralympics, Mariyappan Thangavelu today created history by becoming the first Indian to clinch the gold medal in the men’s T42 High Jump event on day two of the Games in Rio de Janeiro while his compatriot Varun Bhati won the bronze medal in the same category.
Thangavelu clinched the gold thanks to his excellent jump of 1.89m while Bhati won the bronze registered his personal best mark with a jump of 1.86m. The silver went to American Sam Grewe.
After winning, he headed to the edge of the track where he met fellow countryman Varun Singh Bhati the bronze winner to celebrate. Each wrapped a flag around themselves.
T42 is disability sport classification for differently abled track and field athletes with single 'above the knee' amputations or a disability that is comparable.
The Sports Ministry had earlier announced that Indian gold medallists from the Paralympic Games will be awarded Rs 75 lakh, the silver medallists will get Rs 50 lakh while Rs30 lakh will be given to the bronze medallists.
After Thangavelu and Bhati's feat, India's overall medal tally in all the Paralympics so far has reached 10 - three gold, three silver and four bronze. At the 2012 Paralympics, HN Girisha became the first Indian high-jumper to win a medal.
