India’s discus thrower Vinod Kumar lost his F52 category bronze medal on Monday after the official committee of Tokyo Paralympics found him ineligible in the disability classification assessment. Poland’s Piotr Kosewicz won gold with 20.02m while Croatia’s Velimir Sandor bagged silver with a throw of 19.98m.
Vinod Kumar won the bronze medal on Sunday with the best effort of 19.91m (Asian record) in the Men’s Discus Throw F52 event. However, this result has been challenged by some other competitors in Vinod’s classification in the F52 category. Subsequently, the official committee has declared the 41-year-old ineligible in the F52 category.
“The event result has been amended following the classification assessment in competition. Following classification observation assessment in competition and subsequent re-assessment by the classification panel. The panel was unable to allocate the athlete Vinod Kumar from NPC India with a sports class. And the athlete was designated as Classification not Completed (CNC).” the organizers said in a statement.
“The athlete is therefore ineligible for the Men’s F52 Discus medal event. And his results in that competition are void,” the report further read.
F52 is for athletes with impaired muscle power, restricted range of movement, limb deficiency, or leg length difference, with athletes competing in a seated position with cervical cord injury, spinal cord injury, amputation, and functional disorder.
India recorded their best medal tally at Tokyo Paralympics
So far at the Tokyo Paralympics, India has registered their best performance at the Games, winning a total of six medals. India’s paralympic shooter Avani Lekhara clinched gold in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1. Discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya bagged silver. Devendra Jhajharia once again made India proud by bagging a silver medal. While Sundar Singh Gurjar won bronze in the Javelin Throw F46 category. Bhavinaben Patel bagged silver in women’s singles tennis. While Nishad Kumar had earlier won a silver in the men’s T47 high jump events on Sunday.