Para Sports
India win protest at World Para Athletics C'ships, awarded silver, bronze
Rinku Hooda and Ajeet Singh's third and fourth places in the men's javelin throw F46 category were upgraded to silver and bronze.
Rinku Hooda originally finished third at the World Para Athletics Championships in the men's javelin throw F46 category.
India were awarded a silver and bronze medal after the country won a protest against a second-place finisher Dinesh Priyantha Herath of Sri Lanka in the men's javelin throw F46 event at the World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe on Saturday.
Rinku Hooda and Ajeet Singh finished third and fourth in the men’s F46 javelin throw final on Friday. The result, however, was put on hold after India lodged a complaint with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) that Herath was not eligible to compete in the category.
India got the two medals after Herath was disqualified.
The F46 category is for athletes with arm deficiency, impaired muscle power or impaired passive range of movement in arms, with athletes competing in a standing position.
As per a PTI report, an official of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) said, “He (Herath) was not classified properly and did not belong to F 46 category."
Rinku, who originally finished third with his best effort of 62.77m, was upgraded to silver while Ajeet (62.11m) was awarded a bronze medal.
“We won the protest against the Sri Lankan, who had also won gold at the Tokyo Paralympics, that he should not have been eligible to compete,” head coach Satyanarayan was quoted as saying by PTI.
With the silver and bronze, India’s tally went up to 14 medals - five gold, five silver, four bronze - to be in sixth position overall.
This was India's best-ever showing at the World Para Athletics Championships. India's previous best was 10 medals earned in the 2023 edition in Paris.
