Nagoya: In more double medal delight for India, Anjanaben Bumbadiya and Jayanti Behera clinched gold and silver medals, respectively, in the Women’s 400m T47 event at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium here on Thursday.
Anjanaben clinched the yellow metal in the 400m T47 run with a time of 59.97s (848 Raza points). She finished less than a second earlier than the other Indian, Jayanti, who won the silver with a time of 1:00.65s (815 Raza points), while Thailand’s Sasirawan Inthachot was also close with a bronze medal finish and a time of 1:02.58s (714 Raza points). Nepal’s Prabha Angdembe finished fourth as she clocked 1:15.81 (89 Raza points).
The Indian sprinter came close to breaking the Asian Para Games record time of 58.39s, which was set by prominent Chinese athlete Li Lu during the Jakarta Asian Games 2018.
Meanwhile, Tejalben Damor also won a silver for India in the Women’s 400m T12 event with an impressive time of 57.60 seconds. Her performance earned India another medal at the Para athletics, highlighting India’s strong performances in the event.
Iran’s Hajar Safarzadeh won the gold medal with a time of 56.43 seconds, while China’s Shen Yaqin (Guide He Yuchong) clinched the bronze after clocking 58.04 seconds.
Anjanaben is a Gujarat-based para athlete. She was born in 2001 in Gujarat with a congenital upper-limb impairment (one arm shorter than normal since birth).
She is one of the fastest-rising Indian female para-sprinters and the reigning Khelo India Para Games champion of 2025. She clocked her personal best time of 1:00.04s last year at the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi.
Meanwhile, Jayanti is a 1999-born athlete from Odisha. She is classified under T47 and suffered a tragedy early in her life. She suffered severe second-degree burns when she was one year old as she accidentally fell into an earthen stove (chulha). This resulted in a permanent contracture of her left elbow and hand. Her school coach Bishnu Prasad Mishra identified her talent and enrolled her at his Gurukul Athletic Training Centre in Sakhigopal, where he trained her free of cost.
Jayanti won two medals at the 2018 Asian Para Games – a Silver Medal in the Women’s 400m (T47) (59.71s) and a Bronze Medal in the Women’s 200m (T47) (27.45s). She was also crowned the World Youth Champion (Gold Medal) in the 400m at the World Junior Para Athletics Championships in Nottwil, Switzerland, in 2017.
(IANS)
