India's medal tally in athletics rises to seven as Mariyappan Thangavelu, Sharad Kumar win silver and bronze at the Tokyo Paralympics

India’s Mariyappan Thangavelu and Sharad Kumar won silver and bronze medals in the men’s T42 category at the Tokyo Olympic Games on Tuesday. With silver and bronze on Tuesday, India’s medal tally in athletics rose to seven.

In a nail-biting contest on Tuesday, Mariyappan failed to defend the title he won five years ago at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. While the Indian cleared the bar at 1.86m in his third attempt to settle for a silver medal, Sam Grewe of America won gold as he cleared the bar at 1.88m.

Sharad, meanwhile, won a bronze medal. He was successful in clearing the bar at 1.83m. India’s Varun Singh Bhati finished seventh in the field of nine competitors.

In an exciting contest, Mariyappan and Sharad battled with Sam for the gold medal as the bar was raised to 1.83m. However, Sharad was first bow out as he couldn’t clear 1.86m in the three attempts he got. The 29-year-old athlete settled for bronze as he could only clear 1.83m. It was Sharad's season-best performance.

At the 2018 Jakarta Asian Para Games, Sharad won gold with a height of 1.90m. In 2019, Sharad also won silver at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championship.

Mariyappan failed to clear the final hurdle in quest for gold

With Sharad winning bronze, Mariyappan continued to fight for the gold medal. India’s Rio Paralympic Games champion, though, was unsuccessful in clearing the 1.86m in his first two attempts. However, he dug deep into his reserve to clear the 1.86m in his third attempt to stay on course for gold. American athlete Sam also cleared the 1.86m on his third attempt.

It was a battle of wits when the bar was raised to 1.88m. While Mariyappan missed, Sam managed to clear the height of 1.88m and take home the gold.

At the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, Mariyappan became the first Indian to win gold in the high jump. He also won bronze at the 2018 Jakarta Para Asian Games.

Tamil Nadu’s 26-year-old was the pre-event favourite to win gold. Mariyappan’s coach Satyanarayanan was confident as well.

“Mariyappan was in the race for gold but narrowly missed. When the bar was raised to 1.88m he lost his rhythm and it was big disadvantage.” Satyanarayanan said from Tokyo.