Preethi Pal clinches bronze medal at the World Para Athletics Championships; secures Paralympics berth

Preethi Pal etched her name in the books of history after becoming the first Indian woman to clinch a medal in the 200-meter event at the World Para Athletics Championships. She won the bronze medal after clocking a stunning 30.49 seconds in the T35 category.

Preethi also booked her berth in the upcoming Paralympics to be staged in Paris later this year.

On the back of Preethi’s performances, India stayed at 29th in the overall medals tally at the end of Day 3 of the competition. China has dominated the tally, having won 26 medals – 10 golds, eight silvers, and as many bronze medals.

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Nishad Kumar also shines in Para Athletics Championships

Apart from Preethi, Nishad Kumar also did not let his fans and country down. In the T47 high jump, Nishad won the silver medal. The athlete, who won the silver medal in the Paralympics in Tokyo three years ago, finished second behind Roderick Townsend of the United States of America (USA).

Nishad covered a distance of 1.99 meters, second only to Townsend’s 2.05-metre jump. Ram Pal, another Indian, who took part in the event, could not finish on the podium. But Ram racked up his season best of 1.90 meters to finish sixth.

As far as Nishad is concerned, he also bagged the gold medal in the Asian Para Games. He also made an Asian record during his Paralympics debut in Tokyo back in 2021.

The championships got underway on May 17 and will take place until May 26. The tournament is taking part in East Asia for the first time and around 1300 athletes are plying their trade in several competitions.

This season, India have won two medals thus far. In the previous edition of the World Para Athletics Championships, India bagged 10 medals – three golds, four silvers, and three bronzes.