India’s Vinod Kumar on August 29 bagged the bronze medal in men’s discus throw F52 event in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, adding a third medal to the country's tally. Vinod Kumar, too, set an Asian record with a throw of 19.91m.
Poland's Piotr Kosewicz bagged the gold with a throw of 20.02m while Croatian athlete Velimir Šandor took home silver by registering the best effort of 19.98m
Earlier, Bhavina Patel and Nishad Kumar won silver medals in Table tennis and men's T47 High jump, respectively.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to congratulate him saying, India is rejoicing thanks to Vinod Kumar’s stupendous performance! Congratulations to him for the Bronze Medal. His hard work and determination is yielding outstanding results."
The 41-year-old BSF man, whose father fought in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, produced the best throw of 19.91m to finish third behind Piotr Kosewicz (20.02m) of Poland and Velimir Sandor (19.98m) of Croatia.
He injured his legs while training after joining the BSF, falling off a cliff in Leh that left him bed-ridden for close to a decade during which he lost both his parents.
The F52 classification is for athletes with impaired muscle power, restricted range of movement, limb deficiency or leg length difference, with athletes competing in the seated positions. It also applies to cervical cord injury, spinal cord injury, amputation, and functional disorder.