Indian para-athlete and javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia has created history by becoming the first Indian to win two Paralympic gold medals. The 2004 Athens gold medalist, stunned everyone, including World No. 1 Chunliang Guo, as produced a stunning display of javelin throwing to claim India’s second gold medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Participating in the F46 category, Jhajharia created a new World Record by throwing 63.97 in his third attempt, thereby breaking his own previous record of 62.15 meters.
The evening did not start off well for India as World No. 2 Sundar Singh Gurjar did not feature in the event due to unknown reasons. World No. 1 Guo from China started off well with 54.19 meters but Devendra bettered it by throwing 57.25. The Chinese went better in the second throw by claiming a distance of 58.95 but Devendra was not going to be bogged down as he managed 60.70 to turn the game on its head.
Guo improved his throw by a bit but it was Devendra who stole the show by throwing 63.97 in his third attempt to create a new World Record. It was phenomenal throwing from the Indian, who is currently World No. 3 and is likely to become World No.1 after this event. The rest of the three attempts did not turn out to be enough for Guo, who ended up winning silver medal.
Just to put things into perspective, Devendra Jhajharia was up against World No.1 in Guo but it did not deter the Indian from performing above par. The Chinese World No.1 was left stunned as Devendra raced ahead of him by the time the third attempt got over, following which he was left playing catch up. Rinku, the other Indian in the event, was superb as well, finishing fifth after throwing a personal best of 54.39 in six attempts.
Top three:
Devendra (India) – 63.97
Chunliang Guo (China) – 59.93
Herath Priyantha (Sri Lanka) – 58.23
The 2016 Rio Paralympics are turning out to be quite stunning for India as it has already won four medals, which includes two golds, one silver and one bronze. Devendra Jhajharia (Men’s F46 Javelin), Mariyappan Thangavelu (Men’s T42 High Jump), Varun Singh Bhati (Men’s T42 High Jump) and Deepa Malik (Women’s Shot Put) are the medalists from India.
