RIO PARALYMPICS 2016: New World Record And Gold For Devendra Jhajharia
- Ayan Mitra
- Sep 14, 2016
- 2 min read
Indian Para-athletes continue to inspire the nation with another medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics as javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia bettered his own world record to win gold in the men’s F46 event. Jhajharia’s gold medal has now taken Indian’s medals tally to four at this edition of Paralympics. Earlier Mariyappan Thangavelu and Varun Singh Bhati clinched the gold and bronze medal respectively in the men's high jump T-42 event and Deepa Malik bagged a silver in the shot put event.
Devendra Jhajharia after setting up a new World Record. Photo Courtesy: AP
World No. 3 Jhajharia won the gold ahead of World No. 1 China's Guo Chunliang (59.93 m) and Sri Lanka's Herath Mudiyanselage (58.23 m) with an attempt of 63.97 meters.
Devendra Jhajharia became the first Indian to win two gold medals at the Paralympics after breaking his own world record in Rio de Janeiro. Jhajharia's earlier world record of 62.15 metres was set in the Athens Paralympics 12 years ago. He could not participate in the 2008 and 2012 Games as the F46 event did not feature in those editions.
The men's F46 event is for para-athletes with upper limb(s) deficiency, impaired muscle power or impaired range of movement. The Rajasthan-born para-athlete’s left hand had to be amputated at the tender age of eight when he was electrocuted while climbing a tree. Jhajaria was awarded the Arjuna award in 2004 and the Padma Shri in 2012. The javelin world record holder became the first paralympian to be honored with the Padma Shri. Jhajharia was the flag-bearer for the Indian Paralympic contingent in Rio de Janeiro 2016.
Devendra Jhajharia had been successful in the event since 2004. Photo Courtesy: Reuters
Jhajharia had earlier won the gold medal in the F46 javelin throw event at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships and a silver medal in the 2014 Asian Para Games in Incheon, South Korea. In 2014, he was adjudged the para-sportsperson of the year by FICCI.
Jhajharia revealed that his six-year-old daughter, Jiya impelled him to win a record second gold medal in the Paralympics. Jiya struck a deal with her father that if she topped in the lower kindergarten exam, he would have to win gold in Paralympics.
"She proudly phoned me to announce that 'I've topped, now it's your turn', something that kept on echoing in my ear when I entered the field at the Olympic Stadium," Jhajaria told PTI after winning the men's F46 javelin throw.
After Jhajaria scripted history by winning the gold medal, accolades started to pour in from eminent personalities. PM Narendra Modi , Sachin Tendulkar, Abhinav Bindra, Anil Kumble , Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar sent in their wishes through the social media.
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