Class T47 is intended for athletes with unilateral damage to the upper extremities, which leads to a certain loss of function in the shoulder, elbow and wrist.
The final looked to be a two-way battle from the start, with Nishad, the reigning Para Asian Games champion, and Roderick each other’s best marks. Nishad’s first failure over the height was 2.08m. Townsend, who led with 2.06m, cleared the 2.08m mark on his second attempt.
After his third unsuccessful attempt, Nishad collapsed into the foam, devastated at the missed opportunity to improve on his Tokyo medal. Townsend tried to calm him down with a few comforting words.
“Last Tuesday I managed 2.10m in training and today I stopped at 2.04. So I am disappointed,” said Nishad.
“I lost to (Townsend) in Tokyo (2020 Paralympics), at World Championships and here at other Olympic Games, so the silver medal doesn’t give me so much joy, it pinches me.
“I was so confident because in training I was consistently running 2.07, 2.08… Of course I’m disappointed, but God knows why it didn’t work out today.”
This was India’s seventh medal at the Paris 2024 Paralympics and third in athletics. Preethi Pal won bronze medals in the T35 category 100m and 200m events.
The other four medals for India were won in Para Shooting. Avani Lekhara and Mona Agarwal won gold and bronze respectively in the 10m Air Rifle SH1 category. Manish Narwal (10m Air Pistol SH1, men) and Rubina Francis (10m Air Pistol SH1, women) won silver and bronze respectively.
