India impresses in javelin with two gold and one bronze at World Para Athletics Grand Prix
India has won nine gold medals in total so far...
Indian para-athletes continued their rich vein of form at the 12th Fazza International World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Dubai, winning four gold medals and a bronze in javelin events.
Navdeep put his best foot forward in the F41 category of the javelin throw to win the gold medal. He also secured a place in the top three world rankings courtesy of winning gold. Navdeep also secured a spot at the Tokyo Paralympics.
Sandeep Chaudhary also won gold in javelin in the F44 category. His throw reached a distance of 61.22m. He is also the world record holder after he threw 66.18m to better his own world record of 65.80m in the F44 category at the World Para Athletics Championship in November 2019.
His superlative performance also helped him win a Tokyo Paralympics berth. Chaudhary had received the prestigious Arjuna award in 2020 for his exploits on the field.
"61.22m winning performance after a long year gap. Thanks to my coach, SAI (Sports Authority of India), PCI (Paralympic Committee of India). Special thanks to Kiren Rijiju Sir and & Deepa Malik mam for the support," he wrote on social media after clinching gold.
Meanwhile, Ajeet Singh and Sundar Singh Gurjar bagged gold and bronze medal respectively in the F46 category. Gurjar has also booked his Tokyo ticket after he came back from a shoulder injury to claim gold with a season-best performance at the World Para Athletics Championships in 2019.
He was one of the leading contenders to win a medal in the F46 javelin throw at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. But unfortunately, he was disqualified from the event as he failed to register within the stipulated time. His name was called from the registration desk but the announcements skipped his attention and he continued with his warm-up.
Pranav Prashant Desai also won the yellow metal in men’s 200m F64 javelin event, making it a total of four gold medals in javelin.
India has won a total of 17 medals so far at the meet, with nine gold.