Praveen Kumar sets Games record as India claim high jump gold and silver

Praveen Kumar cleared 2.05 metres to set an Asian Para Games record and win the men's high jump T44/64 gold. The mark surpassed the previous Games record of 1.95 metres, set by Temurbek Giyazov in Jakarta in 2018. Praveen first cleared 2 metres before raising the bar further.

India secured a one-two finish in the event as Banti took silver with a personal best of 1.92 metres. Giyazov finished third with 1.86 metres to claim bronze.

India's medal rush continues

The gold was India's second of the day and the country's 11th overall as the medal rush continued on Wednesday. On the track, Rakeshbhai Bhatt clocked a personal best of 11.50 seconds to finish third in the men's 100m T37 final.

Praveen, from Govindgarh village in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddha Nagar district, competes in the men's T64 category under the guidance of Dr Satyapal Singh. He won silver at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics with a 2.07-metre jump that set an Asian record, then secured gold at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Para Games. At Paris 2024 he won gold with a 2.08-metre clearance, and in 2025 he earned bronze at the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi by clearing 2.00 metres.

T64 and T44 athletes often compete together in a combined event as World Para Athletics groups lower-limb classes together to ensure enough competitors and fair competition. T64 is for athletes who run with a prosthetic lower limb, while T44 is for athletes with lower-limb impairments who run using two anatomical limbs without prostheses.

Related on Apex Sports News

• Nishad Kumar wins men's long jump T47 gold at Asian Para Games

• Deepthi Jeevanji wins gold, sets Asian Para Games record in women’s 400m T20 event

• Sheetal Devi sets world record en route to Asian Para Games final

Sources

• The Bridge

• Hindustan Times

• Photo: National Olympic Committee Of Uzbekistan, CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)