Bronze in World Championships, silver in Tokyo Paralympics: Nishad Kumar was meant to succeed

Nishad Kumar won India's second medal at the Tokyo Paralympics. It is a silver in the men's high jump T47 category. He shared the silver medal with American Dallas Wise after they both cleared the height of 2.06 metres.

The second Indian in the event, Ram Pal, finished fifth with a jump of 1.94 metres. It was India's second medal after Bhavina Patel, the table tennis player won a silver in women's singles. Nishad Kumar was someone who was expected to win a medal.

He won a bronze medal at the World para athletics championships at Dubai in 2019. He won that medal with a jump of two metres. He then won a gold medal at the 12th Fazza International Championships for World Para Athletics Grand Prix at Dubai in February 2021. He won that with a jump of 2.06 metres which was an Asian record. He had a setback after he came back from the event when he had a positive Covid case.

However, he recovered well from the setback and got back to his best. He had then jumped a new personal best of 2.07 metres during selection trials to pick up team for Tokyo Paralympics. He has been one of the best jumpers in his category in the last few years. It was really a question of what color medal he would win going into the Tokyo Paralympics.

Nishad Kumar comes from Una, a small town in Himachal Pradesh. Nishad had an accident at the age of eight when he lost his right arm. He took up para athletics in 2009. Nishad is also a student at the Lovely Professional University in Punjab.

He won a full ride scholarship and is a student of physical education. He has had a tough journey from Una to Tokyo where he has had to jump many obstacles. He made his country proud today by jumping another big obstacle.