Nishad Kumar Wins Long Jump Gold on His Debut at the Asian Para Games

Nishad Kumar won the men's T47 long jump at the Asian Para Games on Monday, jumping 7.11 metres in Nagoya to take gold in an event he only took up last year.

The 27 year old Indian controlled the final at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium from the second round on. He opened with 6.95 metres, took the lead with 7.09 metres on his second jump, and reached 7.11 metres in the third round. After a foul in the fourth round, he matched 7.11 metres in the fifth and closed with 7.07 metres. No one else in the field matched that series, IANS reported.

Uzbekistan's Omadbek Khasanov took silver with a season best 6.99 metres. Sri Lanka's Mohammadu Safran took bronze with 6.55 metres.

A high jumper first

Kumar's name was made in a different event. He won high jump silver at the Tokyo Paralympics and again at the Paris Paralympics in 2024, and he is a world champion in the high jump. He is also the defending Asian Para Games high jump champion, after winning gold at Hangzhou in 2023.

Long jump is his second event. He began working on it last year and arrived in Japan with limited competition experience in it, IANS reported. Monday's final was his first long jump competition at a major Games, and he won it with the two longest jumps of the day.

Kumar is from Amb in Himachal Pradesh. He lost his right hand in a grass cutting machine accident on the family farm at the age of six, and took up para athletics in 2009. He won bronze at the World Championships in Dubai in 2019, before his two Paralympic silvers made him one of India's best known para athletes.

India's second gold of the Games

The gold is India's second at the Aichi-Nagoya Games. Shooter Mona Agarwal won the first in the women's 10 metre air rifle standing SH1 event earlier on Monday, beating her teammate Avani Lekhara in a one-two finish for India.

Kumar is not done in Nagoya. He returns on Tuesday for the men's T47 high jump final, where he defends the title he won in Hangzhou. A second gold there would make this one of the best weeks of his career.

The Asian Para Games run in Aichi and Nagoya from October 18 to 24, with athletes competing in 18 sports.