Paris [France], September 4 : Para-athletes Sharad Kumar and Mariyappan Thangavelu clinched silver and bronze medals, respectively, to seal a double podium finish for India in the men's high jump T6 final at the Paris Paralympics.
With a leap of 1.88m, Sharad got his hands on a silver medal while his compatriot, Mariyappan, settled for the bronze medal with a leap of 1.85m. America's Ezra Frech rewrote the Paralympic record to take away the gold with 1.94m, a blockbuster performance.
Earlier, Shailesh Kumar, Mariyappan and Sharad cleared the height of the 1.77m mark with ease in their first attempts. However, the reigning Paralympic champion Sam Grewe of the United States crashed out of the final after he failed to clear 1.77m.
With the stakes going high, Sharad, with a flawless technique, went past the 1.81m mark. Mariyappan and Shailesh followed the same path and cleared the 1.81m mark, his season-best attempt.
With stakes constantly rising high, Mariyappan upped the ante and cleared 1.85m while others struggled to breach past the height. Shailesh matched his compatriot's effort and cleared 1.85m, his personal best attempt.
With the bar raised to a height of 1.88m, Sharad failed to clear the height in his first attempt. He cleared 1.88m in his second attempt and broke the Paralympic record in the T42 category, set by Mariyappan in Tokyo.
Mariyappan was ruled out of gold medal contention after he failed to go past 1.88m in his third attempt. United States' Ezra Frech bettered Sharad's Paralympic record with a gigantic leap of 1.91m. He extended the Paralympic record with a record-breaking jump of 1.94m to claim the gold medal.
With one jump left, Sharad took a gamble of clearing 1.94m. The gamble didn't pay off, and he ended up settling for the silver medal. Mariyappan secured the bronze with a leap of 1.85m. While Shailesh, who kicked off the final brightly, narrowly fell short of a podium finish.
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