Paralympian Mariyappan Thangavelu: I could've won gold

Mariyappan Thangavelu celebrates winning the high jump silver at the Tokyo Paralympics yesterday. Pic/PTI

Mariyappan Thangavelu looked set to repeat his 2016 Rio Paralympics gold feat at the Tokyo Games on Tuesday, but untimely rain hampered an encore.

Mariyappan had to settle for the silver in the high jump event after wet socks severely hampered his performance. Sharad Kumar, the other Indian athlete in the fray in the T63 category, won bronze, while Varun Singh Bhati finished seventh.

Sharad Kumar

Mariyappan cleared 1.86m while Sharad was not far behind, at 1.83m. Varun's best was 1.77m. USA's Sam Grewe took the gold, clearing 1.88m. He missed breaking his own world record of 1.90m.

"At the start, the jumps were coming along really well. It was drizzling a bit, but as the night went on, it started raining heavily. I could not nail the take-off. I could not get the height too. My socks got wet and soggy. And when the body heat goes up, it keeps getting colder. My jumps got affected and it became very difficult thereafter," Mariyappan said during a virtual media interaction from Tokyo on Tuesday. Missing out on being India's flagbearer for the opening ceremony was upsetting for Mariyappan too. He was forced to go into isolation after coming in contact with a COVID-19 positive person on the flight to Tokyo.

The disappointment at Tokyo has made Mariyappan more determined to aim for gold at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

"I was confident of clearing 1.90m if the conditions had been better because I started really well. The biggest difference was the weather. In Rio, the weather was very much like India, but in Tokyo, the sudden rain affected my plans and execution was difficult. My focus is to win a gold at the 2024 Paris Games," said Mariyappan.
Sharad, 29, who won bronze, revealed that he injured his knee on the eve of the event and was considering pulling out, but his brother and some friends motivated him to compete.

"It was very bad for me. I was crying the whole night. I landed on my meniscus and dislocated it. I did not even think that I would be able to participate. I spoke to my parents in the morning and told them, ‘I am being punished for some sin that I may have done'. My brother and a few of my friends told me to just participate, saying the result didn't matter," said Sharad.

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