Simran Sharma wins gold and India wins three medals on final day – Firstpost

Simran Sharma won gold in the women’s 200m T12 in a personal best of 24.95 seconds to give India a sixth yellow metal on the final day of the World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan, Saturday.

Simran improved by about a fifth of a second from her previous personal best of 25.16 seconds to win the gold medal.

Darlenys De La Severino (25.08) of Dominica and Lorraine Gomes De Aguiar (25.40) won silver and bronze, respectively.

The T12 category is intended for athletes with visual impairments.

Navdeep (men’s javelin throw F41) and Preethi Pal (women’s 100m T35) added to the country’s tally with bronze medals.

🎉Congratulations to Navdeep for clinching the🥉Bronze medal in the F41 Men’s Javelin Throw Final with a season’s best distance of 42.82m in the world #ParaAthletics Championships in #Kobe2024Japan#JoshHoTohAisa #cheer4india #praise4para pic.twitter.com/jLauQwDjxD

– Paralympic India 🇮🇳 (@ParalympicIndia) May 25, 2024

India thus finished the event with 17 medals (6 gold, 5 silver and 6 bronze), which constitutes the country’s record at the Worlds. This places India sixth in the rankings behind China, Brazil, Uzbekistan, Britain and the United States.

India’s tally was also updated with a silver for Rinku and a bronze for Ajeet Singh in the men’s javelin throw F46 event. The duo had initially finished third and fourth. But after a protest that suspended the result, Sri Lankan Dinesh Priyantha Herath was disqualified. Herath had finished second, but India argued in his case that he was not eligible to compete in the F46 category.

India 🇮🇳 gold number 6! What a championship for them 👏👏

🥇Simran in the women’s 200m T12 (24.95)

📺 Watch live: https://t.co/OsPEatZvJQ
📊 Schedule & live results: https://t.co/mco1aiY7HU#ParaAthletics @Paralympics @kobe2022wpac @ParalympicIndia pic.twitter.com/r7eFdEolkL

– #ParaAthletics (@ParaAthletics) May 25, 2024

In para sports, athletes are classified into groups with similar levels of physical ability to allow for fair competition. The F46 classification is intended for athletes with arm deficiency, impaired muscle power, or reduced passive arm range of motion, with athletes competing in a standing position.

“It (Herath) was not properly classified and did not belong to the F 46 category,” an Indian Paralympic Committee official said.

India obtained a favorable decision from the authorities on Saturday. Rinku, who initially finished third with an effort of 62.77m, was upgraded to second while Ajeet (62.11m) won a bronze medal.

“We won the protest against the Sri Lankan, who had also won gold at the Tokyo Paralympics, that he should not have been eligible to compete,” head coach Satyanarayan told the agency press release PTI.

“Now Rinku is the silver winner after the initial third place and Ajeet has moved up from fourth place to bronze.”