Praveen Kumar clinches gold in men's high jump at Paralympics with 2.08m effort, India's medal tally up to 26

Praveen Kumar clinched a gold medal in men's high jump event, taking India's Paralympic medal tally to 26.

Praveen Kumar succeeded his Tokyo silver with a gold at the Paris Paralympics on Friday. He clinched the top spot at the men's high jump T64 final, recording the highest jump of 2.08m, which is also an area record.

Praveen Kumar of India reacts during the men's high jump event at Paralympics (REUTERS)

The 21-year-old from Noida, who was born with a short leg, produced a season-best jump of 2.08m in the six-jumper field to finish on top of the podium.

USA's Derek Loccident claimed the silver with a best jump of 2.06m while Uzbekistan's Temurbek Giyazov, who notched a personal best 2.03m, finished third.

T64 is for athletes with movement moderately affected in one lower leg or the absence of one or both legs below the knee. While T44, under which Praveen is categorised, is for athletes with movement affected at a low or moderate degree in one lower leg.

Opting to start from 1.89m, Kumar aced seven jumps in his first attempt to put himself in pole position to grab the coveted gold medal.

The bar was then raised to 2.10m, with both Kumar and Loccident fighting for the top spot on the podium but failed to clear the mark.

This was also the 2023 world championship bronze medallist's personal best performance.