Mariyappan Thangavelu becomes the third Indian to win multiple Paralympic medals

The Indian high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu today clinched the silver medal in the T63 category at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics. The 26-year-old took home the silver medal after clearing the height of 1.86m.

This silver is Mariyappan's second medal at the Paralympics. He had previously won the gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games where he registered his personal best of 1.89m to be crowned the Paralympics champion.

With this medal, Mariyappan Thangavelu has become only the third Indian to win multiple medals at the Paralympic Games. He joins the exclusive club of Joginder Singh Bedi and Devendra Jhajharia, who added one more medal to his tally yesterday.

Joginder Singh Bedi was the first to achieve this feat when he clinched a total of three medals at the 1984 Games. He had then won a bronze each in Men's Javelin Throw and Discus Throw L6, and a silver in Men's Shot Put L6.

Devendra on the other hand has two gold and one silver in javelin throw against his name. He won his first gold during the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, and followed it up with a gold in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo Games.