India's star athlete Nishad Kumar claimed the Silver medal in the men's high jump event at the Paris Paralympics 2024 on Sunday, September 1. Nishad produced his second and India's seventh medal in the high jump category in Paralympic history.
Nishad Kumar crossed the 2.04m mark to finish second while India's other participant Ram Pal equalled his personal-best 1.95m to finish seventh. USA's three-time Paralympic gold medalist Roderick Townsend-Roberts continued to dominate the event with the best finish of 2.08m.
Both Nishad and Roderick were the only two contenders to coss 2.00m and then raised the bar for the gold with their respective season-best jumps. Both athletes crashed onto the bar while chasing 2.08m in their first attempt but the American star crossed it successfully in his second attempt to take the gold.
Nishad also gave it all with his personal best performance on the 2024 but also crashed his second jump onto the bar to settle for a silver medal. Notably, even after winning the Gold, Roderick continued his efforts in the hope of breaking his own Paralympic record of 2.15m. He managed to reach 2.10 and 2.12 but failed to reach his previous best.
Men's High Jump - T47 Final Results
- Roderick Townsend-Roberts (USA) - 2.12m
- Nishad Kumar (India) - 2.04m
- Georgii Margiev (Neutral) - 2.00m
Meanwhile, it was a mixed day for India on Day 4 with some heartbreaking results as well. Gold medalist Avani Lekhara failed to qualify for the final of the R3 mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1 final earlier on Sunday followed by Ravi Rongali's narrow miss in the men's shot put final.
Top-ranked archer Rakesh Kumar reached the finals of the men's individual compound open but lost both gold and bronze medal matches. Preethi Pal managed to bring India's sixth medal by winning a bronze in the women's 200m just before Nishad's silver in the high jump.
