Tokyo Paralympics: Tek Chand finishes eighth in Men's F55 Shot Put

Competing in the men's F55 shot put at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, Tek Chand, who was also India's flagbearer at the Games, finished eighth in the final.

In a pool of eight competitors, Chand could only make two valid throws out of the five attempts he made. In his second attempt, he threw 8.55m. And in the fourth attempt, he threw a best of 9.04m. He was the only athlete who could not cross the 10m barrier at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo.

Even though the throw of 9.04m was his Season Best attempt, Tek Chand finished last amongst all the athletes in contention. Brazil's Wallace Santos took walked away with the gold medal with a world record throw of 12.63m, Bulgaria's Ruzhdi and Poland's Lech Stoltman won the silver and bronze medal, respectively.

Tek Chand came 6th in the World Para Championships in 2019. Tek Chand took up javelin in 2016 and was coached by Satbir Singh. He won a bronze medal at the Para Asian Games in 2018 and qualified for the Olympics earlier this year. Tek Chand faced disability back in 2005 during a road accident and has kept all obstacles behind him to get to where he is today. He hails from the Rewari district in Haryana.