Shailesh sets record, gets India’s campaign rolling

First day, first show

- Shantanu Srivastava

Shailesh Kumar opened India's account on the first day of the World Para Athletics Championships with gold in the high jump T63 event at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Saturday.

The 25-year-old cleared 1.91m to not only rewrite the championship record, but also beat USA's 20-year-old phenom Ezra Frech - the reigning Paralympics champion.

Shailesh's disability class of T42 pertains to above-knee amputation or a similar functional impairment. The athletes under this category are permitted to compete in T63 events, which include those with less severe through-knee or aboveknee single limb deficiency.

Shailesh's golden jump hence bettered the T42 championship record of 1.83m that was held by India's Sharad Kumar since the 2019 Worlds in Dubai. Shailesh had equalled that mark at the 2023 Paris World Championships for silver and then achieved a personal best of 1.86m earlier this season.

On Saturday, he opened the competition with a 1.82m jump before clearing 1.85m with ease to break the championship record. He then raised the bar to 1.88m and cleared it with a neatly executed Fosbury Flop to better the T42 record for the second time in the evening. The jump also confirmed his gold with Ezra having managed a best of 1.85m.