After a nail-biting finale,Mariyappan Thangavelu,registered a gold medal for India in men’s final high jump T-42 event at Rio Paralympics, 2016.His compatriot Varun Singh,won a bronze medal in the same event.
On the fateful Saturday morning,Thangavelu created a history by making a leap of 1.89 meters,while Singh scored his personal best of 1.86 meters to finish third. Sharad Kumar,another medal prospect fished sixth and USA’s Sam Grewe bagged the silver medal.
The event witnessed fierce competition as six out of twelve participants cleared the 1.74 metres mark in their first eight attempts. Thangavelu was one of the four participants to clear the 1.77 metres mark in his tenth attempt. When the competition reduced to just three competitors, American Grewe cleared the 1.86 metres mark to grab the top spot, but the Indians equalled the height to make it even and eventually winning a gold and a bronze.
Thangavelu was injured at the age of 5,when a bus accident left him with a permanent disability and his compatriot Singh,was diagnosed with Polio, which led to a deformity in his legs,said an NDTV report.
While, Abhinav Bindra, former gold medalist in shooting, questioned India’s Rio performance,he along with PM Narendra Modi, were nonetheless jubilant over India’s big win.This is the first time India has registered a gold in men’s high jump.
“Even a Gold is possible”, said Thangavelu in an interview with The Hindu in March 2016.He did it today. Bhati in an exclusive interview with Times Now said, “All I want is to change colour of this medal in future.” We have complete faith in you, Varun Bhati.
India is proud of you two!
