Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi
New Delhi, Mar 12: India made a strong start on the opening day of the World Para Athletics Grand Prix as star high jumper Praveen Kumar clinched gold and several other Indian athletes secured podium finishes across multiple events on Wednesday.
Praveen, the gold medallist at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, dominated the men’s T44 high jump event with a leap of 1.96m to finish on top. Fellow Indians Unni Renu (1.86m) and Banti (1.83m) secured silver and bronze respectively in the event.
India also swept the podium in the men’s T42 high jump as Shailesh Kumar claimed gold with a jump of 1.84m. Ramsingbhai Gov Padhiyar (1.65m) and Lokesh Mantra (1.60m) bagged silver and bronze respectively.
In the women’s 100m T35/T37 race, Preeti Pal, a double bronze medallist at the Paris Paralympics, secured gold with a timing of 14.46 seconds. Margarita Mataeva finished second with 16.25 seconds, while Karina Machulskaia took bronze in 17.38 seconds. Preeti had earlier won silver at the World Para Athletics Championships at the same venue last year.
India continued its dominance in field events as Monu won gold in the men’s discus throw F11/F12 with a throw of 34.30m. Praveen Sharma secured silver with 32.96m and Sanjay Reddy Neelam claimed bronze with 30.15m.
In the men’s discus throw F37, Haney bagged gold with a throw of 59.95m, while Rishi Raj Rathore (46.25m) and Bhavishay (45.35m) won silver and bronze respectively.
India also secured a clean sweep in the women’s 1500m T11/T12 event, with Soumya winning gold in 5:18.94. Rakshita Raju finished second in 5:28.30, while Radha Venkatesh took bronze with a timing of 5:25.48.
In the women’s shot put F33/F34 event, Galina Lipatnikova won gold with a throw of 7.39m, while compatriot Vera Isakova secured silver with 6.11m. India’s Dipika Rani claimed bronze with a throw of 5.05m.
In the women’s shot put F56 event, Poonam clinched gold with a throw of 6.85m. Zeljka Sandrk of Bosnia and Herzegovina took silver with 6.16m, while Vijayashree Kumar of India secured bronze with 4.69m.
India again dominated the men’s 1500m T11 event, with Ankur Dhama winning gold in 4:38.15, Keshavamurthy taking silver in 4:41.91 and Ravikumar Bankalagi finishing third in 5:41.80.
In the men’s 1500m T20 race, Vladilen Voloshin of Russia won gold with a time of 3:56.01, followed by compatriot Kirill Kirikov with silver in 4:08.07, while India’s Bhushan secured bronze in 4:31.98.
Rakeshbhai Bhatt won gold in the men’s 100m T36/T37/T38 race, while Vladislav Kostin of Russia secured silver. Darko Marisavljevic of Serbia clinched gold in the men’s 1500m T12/T13 event, with India’s Sharath Makanahali taking silver and Saurabh Sharma claiming bronze.
India also dominated the men’s 1500m T37/T46 race as Raman Sharma secured gold, while Sharwan and Rakesh Bharia won silver and bronze respectively.
A total of 257 athletes from eight countries are competing in the second leg of the Grand Prix season, with India fielding 219 athletes across various track and field events and classifications.