Tokyo Paralympics: Indian high-jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu wins silver

Defending champion Mariyappan Thangavelu and Sharad Kumar won a silver and bronze respectively in the men’s high jump T42 event at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics on Tuesday. Courtesy of these two medals, India’s medal tally at the Paralympics touched an unprecedented 10.

Mariyappan cleared 1.86m while the American gold winner Sam Grewe succeeded in soaring above 1.88m in his third attempt. Kumar took the bronze with an effort of 1.83.

The third Indian in the fray and 2016 Rio Paralympics bronze-winner, Varun Singh Bhati, finished seventh in the field of seven competitors after he failed to clear the 1.77m mark.

The T42 classification is for athletes with a leg deficiency, leg length difference, impaired muscle power or impaired passive range of movement in the legs. The athletes compete in a standing position.

Earlier in the day, shooter Singhraj Adana took home a bronze in the men’s 10m air pistol SH1 event.

India have so far won two gold, five silver and three bronze medals.

The 26-year-old Mariyappan was touted as a sure-shot medal for India after rising to fame with his gold in the Rio Games five years ago.

The Tamil Nadu athlete suffered permanent disability in his right leg after it was crushed under a bus when he was only 5.

Raised by a single mother after his father abandoned the family, Mariyappan fought poverty growing up as his mother worked as a labourer before becoming a vegetable seller.

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Out of school, Mariyappan Thangavelu pursued a bachelor’s degree in business administration at the AVS College of Arts & Science. It was here that he first got his break. However, Thangavelu’s first tryst with the sport ended in heartbreak. He failed to qualify for the 2012 Paralympic Games and was about to give up on the sport.

When things looked really bleak for the young high jumper, a Bengaluru-based athletics coach named Satyanarayana noticed Thangavelu’s talent and took him under his wing. With the coach came the support of the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

With support from the sporting federation, Mariyappan Thangavelu was given proper training and adequate facilities.

Kumar, who hails from Patna, Bihar, suffered paralysis in his left leg as a two-year-old after being administered a spurious polio vaccine.

He is a two-time Asian Para Games gold-medallist.