Nagoya (Japan): India’s Nishad Kumar clinched his second gold medal in the ongoing Asian Para Games as he won the top prize in the Men’s High Jump T47 at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium on Tuesday.
Nishad won the gold medal with a new Games Record as he cleared the 2.04m mark in the final. The previous record belonged to Thailand’s Angkarn Chanaboon, who had leapt to the mark of 2.01m at the Jakarta 2018 Games.
Meanwhile, Nishad also holds the Asian record of 2.14m that he set during the World Para Athletics Championships 2025 in New Delhi. The world record belongs to America’s Roderick Townsend-Roberts, at 2.16 m.
Coming to the competition, Uzbekistan’s Muhammadabdulloh Tursunjonov won the silver with a best jump of 1.94, which is also his personal best now. Thailand’s Chanaboon won the bronze with a jump of 1.75m.
Nishad had passed the first six efforts of 1.60m, 1.65m, 1.70m, 1.75m, 1.80m and 1.85m before he made his first attempt at 1.88m. He then skipped 1.91m and cleared 1.94m with ease on the first effort as well.
Nishad passed 1.96m as well and then soared over the bar kept at 1.98m, 2.02m and 2.04m successfully each on first attempt to win the gold with the Games record.
Earlier, Nishad had won a gold in the Men’s T47 long jump event at the Games with a best effort of 7.11m. Known primarily for his achievements in the high jump, Nishad made an emphatic statement in a discipline that remains secondary to his speciality. His winning distance proved beyond the reach of the competition, with the Indian recording 7.11m twice during the final to establish his superiority.
Nishad is a decorated Indian para athlete. He has won silver medals at the Tokyo and Paris Paralympics in the High Jump T47 events, a gold in the 2025 World Championships, and also a yellow metal in the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Para Games in the High Jump T47 event.
(IANS)
