WAPC 2025: Nishad nails Asian Record in gold-winning effort; Simran storms to 100m victory

New Delhi, Oct 3 Nishad Kumar and Simran emerged the toast of the goodly home crowd with gold medal-winning efforts within moments of each other in the men’s high jump T47 and women’s 100m T12, respectively, in the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships (WAPC) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Friday.

India vaulted from 11th place on the medals table to fourth, thanks to the twin gold medals won in the span of a few minutes. With 12 gold, 18 silver, and 7 bronze, Brazil continues to stay on top of the charts ahead of China, which has 9 gold, 16 silver, and 13 bronze. Poland is in third place with 8 gold, 2 silver, and 5 bronze medals.

Earlier, Preeti Pal picked up a bronze for India in the women’s 200m T36 final and Pardeep Kumar claimed another bronze in the men’s Discus Throw F46 final. India now has 6 gold, 5 silver, and 4 bronze for a total of 15 medals so far.

Both Nishad Kumar and Simran held their nerves under pressure and turned in stellar displays to warm the hearts of the home fans. Nishad Kumar’s calm saw him beat Turkiye’s Abdulla Ilgaz and three-time defending champion Roderick Townsend (USA) to the gold in great style.

He did not miss a mark until the bar was set at the World Record height of 2.18m and secured the Asian Record after Abdullah Ilgaz had secured a European mark at 2.08m. Nishad Kumar did well to pass the 2.12m and pile the pressure on the Turkiye athlete after the world record holder, Townsend, exited after clearing just 2.03m.

The 25-year-old sprinter, Simran, also got a personal best. She had clocked 12.08 seconds in the semifinals on Friday morning. Though she admitted to being nervous for the final, she turned up with confidence in her own ability. Teaming with guide Umar Saifi, she broke the 12-second barrier for the first time, dipping home in 11.95 seconds in the final.

It seemed natural that Nishad Kumar and Simran claimed much of the spotlight, but even they would concede that it is only fair to share it with Catherine Debrunner (Switzerland), who swept all five gold medals for women’s T53 events, and Thailand’s Pongsakorn Paeyo who won his third gold of New Delhi 2025 by winning the men’s 800m T53 crown.

Catherine Debrunner single-handedly accounted for five of Switzerland’s six gold medals, winning the 400m T53 final in a Championships Record time of 50.58 seconds. She made it a most memorable event in New Delhi by dominating an amazing range of women’s T53 (100m, 400m, and 800m) and T54 (1500m and 5000m) events.

Pongsakorn Paeyo added the men’s 100m T53 to the 400m and 800m gold medals won earlier this week to emerge as the most successful male athlete with three gold medals. Danielle Aitchison set a new world record in winning the women’s 200m T35 final, while Annie Carey (USA) also set a new women’s Long Jump T44 World Record.

The results (finals):

Men

100m T11: 1. Athanosis Ghavelas (Greece) 10.96 seconds; 2. Ananias Shikongo (Namibia) 11.00; 3. Di Dongdong (China) 11.11.

100m T54: 1. Athiwat Paeng-Nuea (Thailand) 13.66 seconds; 2. Hu Yang (China) 13.81; 3. Mamudo Balde (Portugal) 13.86.

400m T12: 1. Mahdi Afri (Morocco) 49.440 seconds; 2. Fakhriddin Khamraev (Uzbekistan) 50.011; 3. Oguz Akbulut (Turkiye) 50.84.

400m T13: 1. Max Marzillier (Germany) 49.00 seconds; 2. Ryota Fukunaga (Japan) 49.03; 3. Bose Mokgwathi (Botswana) 49.77.

800m T53: 1. Pongsakorn Paeyo (Thailand) 1:35.76 (New Championships Record. Old: 1:38.38, B Lakatos, Canada, 2019); 2. Mohamed Nidhal Khelifi (Tunisia) 1:37.15; 3. Vithali Gritsenko (Neutral Para Athlete) 1:37.52.

High Jump T47: 1. Nishad Kumar (India) 2.14m; 2. Abdulla Ilgaz (Turkiye) 2.08; 3. Roderick Townsend (USA) 2.03; 5. Ram Pal (India) 1.94.

Long Jump T64: 1. Markus Rehm (Germany) 8.43m (New Championships Record. Old: 8.40, Markus Rehm, 2015); 2. Derek Loccident (USA) 8.21; 3. Jarryd Wallace (USA) 7.65; 7. Solairaj Dharmaraj (India) 7.08.

Shot Put F35: 1. Seyed Aliasghar Javanmardi (Iran) 17.17m; 2. Hernan Emanuel Urra (Argentina) 16.77; 3. Fu Xinhan (China) 15.64.

Shot Put F46: 1. Greg Stewart (Canada) 16.68m; 2. Joshua Cinnamo (USA) 16.08; 3. Luka Bakovic (Croatia) 15.83; 4. Sachin Sarjerao Khilari (Indoa) 15.03; 6. Mohammed Yasser (India) 14.73; 8. Parveen (India) 14.24.

Discus Throw F44: 1. Andres F Mosquera Neira (Colombia) 60.26; 2. Akeem Stewart (Trinidad & Tobago) 59.64; 3. Dan Greaves (Great Britain) 52.42; 4. Sagar Thayat (India) 51.93; 6. Devender Kumar (India) 50.12; 8. Pardeep (India) 46.14.

Discus Throw F64: 1. Ivan Katanusic (Croatia) 55.12m; 2. Max Rohn (USA) 50.92; 3. Pardeep Kumar (India) 46.23; 5. Sharvan Kumar (India) 44.11.

Women

100m T12: 1. Simran (India) 11.95 seconds; 2. Liang Yanfen (China) 12.11; 3. Nagore Falgado Garcia (Spain) 12.11.

200m T35: 1. Danielle Aitchison (New Zealand) 27.19 seconds (New World Record. Old WR & CR: 27.47, Danielle Aitchison, 2024); 2. Mal Lovell (Australia) 30.62; 3. Cheyenna Bouthoorn (Netherlands) 30.95.

200m T36: 1. Guo Qianqian (China) 29.50 seconds; 2. Fatimah Suwaed (Iraq) 30.00; 3. Preeti Pal (India) 30.03.

400m T53: 1. Catherin Debrunner (Switzerland) 50.58 seconds (New Championships Record. Old: 55.22, Zhou Hongzhuan, China, 2017); 2. Hamide Dogangun (Turkiye) 53.72; Zhou Hongzhuan (China) 54.31.

400m T54: 1. Lea Bayekula (Belgium) 50.99 seconds; 2. Zhou Zhaoqian (China) 53.22; 3. Hannah Dederick (USA) 53.29.

Long Jump T64: 1. Fleur Jong (Netherlands) 6.81m (New Championships Record. Old: 5.74, Marie Amelie Fleur, France, 2015); Kiki Hendriks (Netherlands) 5.43; 3. Beatriz Hatz (USA) 5.38. Note: Annie Carey (USA) 5.20m set a new T44 World Record. Old T44 WR: 5.19, Annie Carey, USA, 2025).

Shot Put F33: 1. Svetlana Krivenok (Neutral Para Athlete) 8.14m (New Championships Record. Old: 7.81, L Kornobys, Poland, 2019); 2. Wu Qing (China) 7.56; 3. Julia Hanes (Canada) 7.51.

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