India’s Paralympian Devendra Jhajharia became the first Indian to clinch second gold in men’s javelin throw F46 event at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Devendra Jhajharia had won gold in the javelin event at the 2004 Athens Paralympics with a record throw of 62.15 metres.
Almost after 12 years of break, Jhajharia went on to set another world record with an attempt of 63.97 metres throw on Tuesday.
Born in Rajasthan, Jhajharia’s left hand was amputated at the age of eight after being electrocuted. He was awarded the Arjuna award in 2004 and the Padma Shri in 2012, becoming the first Paralympian to receive Padma Shri—the fourth highest civilian award.
In 2013, the 36-year-old Paralympian also won gold at the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) Athletics World Championships held in France’s Lyon city.
Jhajharia could not participate in previous two Paralympics held in 2008 and 2012 as F46 event was removed.
After Devendra Jhajharia’s historic win, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated him for becoming the first Indian to get two gold medals at the 2016 Paralympics and breaking his own world record.
PM Modi tweeted, “Congratulations to Devendra Jhajharia for the historic and well-deserved Gold at the Paralympics. We are very proud of him.”
Jhajharia is the fourth Paralympian to win a medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Before Jhajharia, Tamil Nadu’s Thangavelu Mariyappan won gold in men’s high jump, while Varun Bhati secured the bronze in the same event. While, shot putter Deepa Malik, became the first Indian woman to win a silver medal in the Paralympics.
