India’s star para high jumper Praveen Kumar delivered a dominant performance to win gold on the opening day of the World Para Athletics Grand Prix on Wednesday.
The 2024 Summer Paralympics gold medallist cleared 1.96 metres in the men’s T44 high jump, comfortably securing the top spot on the podium.
Fellow Indians Unni Renu and Banti completed an Indian sweep in the event, taking silver (1.86m) and bronze (1.83m) respectively.
Another High Jump Gold for India
India continued its strong showing in field events with Shailesh Kumar clinching gold in the men’s T42 high jump with a leap of 1.84 metres.
Ramsingbhai Gov Padhiyar secured silver with 1.65m, while Lokesh Mantra took bronze with 1.60m, giving India another clean sweep of the podium.
Preeti Pal Wins Women’s 100m Gold
In the women’s 100m T35/T37 event, Preeti Pal, a double bronze medallist at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, won gold with a timing of 14.46 seconds.
She finished ahead of Margarita Mataeva, who clocked 16.25 seconds for silver, while Karina Machulskaia took bronze in 17.38 seconds.
The medal adds to Preeti Pal’s impressive run after she secured silver at the World Para Athletics Championships last year at the same venue.
Multiple Podium Sweeps for India
Indian athletes continued their dominance across several events:
Men’s Discus Throw F11/F12
- Gold: Monu – 34.30m
- Silver: Praveen Sharma – 32.96m
- Bronze: Sanjay Reddy Neelam – 30.15m
Men’s Discus Throw F37
- Gold: Haney – 59.95m
- Silver: Rishi Raj Rathore – 46.25m
- Bronze: Bhavishay – 45.35m
India Dominates Track Events
India also secured a clean sweep in the women’s 1500m T11/T12:
- Gold: Soumya – 5:18.94
- Silver: Rakshita Raju – 5:28.30
- Bronze: Radha Venkatesh – 5:25.48
In the men’s 1500m T11, India again dominated the podium:
- Gold: Ankur Dhama – 4:38.15
- Silver: Keshavamurthy – 4:41.91
- Bronze: Ravikumar Bankalagi – 5:41.80
Other Medal Performances
In the women’s shot put F33/F34, Galina Lipatnikova won gold with 7.39m, while Vera Isakova took silver. India’s Dipika Rani claimed bronze.
Meanwhile, Poonam secured gold in the women’s shot put F56 with 6.85m, ahead of Zeljka Sandrk of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while India’s Vijayashree Kumar finished with bronze.
International Winners
In the men’s 1500m T20, Russian athletes dominated, with Vladilen Voloshin winning gold and Kirill Kirikov taking silver. India’s Bhushan secured bronze.
Serbia’s Darko Marisavljevic won gold in the men’s 1500m T12/T13, while India’s Sharath Makanahali and Saurabh Sharma finished with silver and bronze.
India also dominated the men’s 1500m T37/T46, with Raman Sharma winning gold ahead of Sharwan and Rakesh Bharia.
Strong Indian Representation
The Grand Prix has drawn 257 athletes from eight nations, with India fielding 219 athletes across multiple track-and-field events and sport classifications.
The strong start highlights India’s growing dominance in para athletics on the global stage.