Tokyo Paralympics: Mariyappan Thangavelu, Sharad Kumar say rain spoilt their chances of better medal

Tokyo, August 31: Mariyappan Thangavelu and Sharad Kumar won silver and bronze medals respectively in the high jump T63 category and took India's overall medal tally to ten in the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics 2020.

Mariyappan secured silver by clearing the 1.86M mark comfortably while his opponent from USA Sam Grewe went on clearing the 1.88M mark to grab gold.

Mariyappan's highest jump of 1.86m in the final has been his season-best score. Sharad also finished with a season-best jump of 1.83m en route to his bronze medal. Both are classified under the T42 category, i.e. athletes have one or more impairment types affecting the hip and/or knee function in one or both limbs and with activity limitations.

Mariyappan, who won a gold medal in Rio, failed in all his three attempts to clear the 1.88M mark. It was during his virtual interaction with media persons when Mariyappan revealed that rain played a spoilsport. His compatriot Sharad also voiced a similar concern. It was drizzling when the competition started but the downpour got stronger, to their dismay.

"I was expecting a gold. Had it not been raining, I could have cleared the 1.88M mark as well and won the gold medal. My socks were getting sogged due to rain. I could have cleared 1.9M had it not been raining because I was in good rhythm," said Thangavelu disappointingly.

Sharad - who claimed his maiden Paralympic medal in Tokyo - had also complained about the same because rain impacted his grip on the ground.

"It was really tough competing as it started drizzling just before our finals. With the track wet, it was difficult for us as we were running with spikes in just one leg. Had it not been raining the performance would have been better," said Sharad - who had won a gold medal at the Asian Para Games 2018 and silver in World Para Athletics Championship 2019.

Sharad - who had been training in Ukraine for over two years prior to the flagship event under foreign coach Nikitin Yevhen - suffered an injury scare on the eve of the finals. He had landed on his meniscus and injured his knee but went on competing in the finals and ended up finishing the podium.

"I landed on my meniscus and injured knee last night. It was itself the war every time I was jumping in the finals. But I am happy with the performance," Sharad added further.

The fear of missing out in the final made him cry all night but the advice of his coaches, brother and parents boosted his morale.

"After sustaining the injury, I was crying all night long but the coaches asked me to read The Bhagwad Gita to calm my senses down. I did that and when I entered the arena today, I just thanked God," Sharad added further.

Later, when Mariyappan was asked about his plans for the future the Tamil Nadu-based athlete said his next target is winning a yellow metal in Paris and clearing the 2M mark.

"I am targetting gold in Paris and to break the world and Paralympic record in high jump. I had been clearing 2m-mark in the training and was aiming to touch it but I couldn't. So now, it will be my target ahead of Paris Paralympics."