The Indian Nishad Kumar took two days in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, and did something that no one could have ever imagined – win in an event which is not his specialty and go back to the one that he rules.
On Tuesday, 20th October, he became the third Indian to claim two gold medals in the same Asian Para Games, clinching the title of men’s high jump T47, where he set a new Asian Para Games record.
Gold was obtained from the sandpit. Kumar won the gold medal in the men’s long jump T47 with a result of 7.11m, and it was the first major international meet for him in that particular event.
The athlete began with a mark of 6.95m and improved it to 7.09m. However, his personal record was not better than the Games record of 7.53m held by Hao Wang of China from 2018.
It was an important medal for the Indian medals count. This was the second gold medal won by India at the Games and its first in para athletics since the shooter Mona Agarwal had won the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 event with a Games record score of 250.0.
His second gold was at home, in the high jump discipline. Kumar made it through at 2.04m in the men’s high jump T47 and made a new Games record.
He was a record holder of the previous Games. Back in 2022 at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games, he took gold after making 2.02m, which was a Games record then.
The latest feat has improved that record by two centimeters.
He was a defending champion as well. He arrived in Japan as the defending Asian Para Games champion in the high jump T47.
Such an accomplishment puts Kumar in an elite group. Kumar is just the third Indian to have won two gold medals in a single event of the Asian Para Games. Unfortunately, the articles did not mention who the first two are.
Having won both events requires diversity as much as talent. Long jump entails speed along a runway, whereas high jump requires height built up through a bent approach. Kumar managed both in 24 hours on two separate days.
Kumar is 26 years old. He was born on October 3, 1999, in the state of Himachal Pradesh in Una district. He began participating in para athletics in 2009.
For him, Paralympics have meant many heartbreaks.
At Tokyo 2020, he cleared 2.06m, setting an Asian record and winning silver behind American Roderick Townsend. The same silver medal was secured by him in Paris 2024.
The breakthrough arrived for him at home last year. At the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi, he cleared 2.14m, setting an Asian record again, defeating Roderick Townsend in the process.
Note the pattern. He cleared 2.06 m in Tokyo and 2.14 m in New Delhi. In Nagoya, he won by clearing 2.04 m, which is not the best height but nevertheless set a Games record.
This difference highlights an issue. The level of continental competitions is a step above the Paralympics, which is tougher with a higher standard. Winning was what Kumar had to do here, and he accomplished that.
