Mariyappan Thangavelu settled for silver within the males’s excessive bounce T42/T63 class after recording a bounce of 1.86m on the Tokyo Paralympics on Tuesday. However, needing to breach the mark of 1.88m for the yellow metallic, Mariyappan struggled to clear the peak as USA’s Sam Grewe breached the mark to bag the gold.
“I expected a gold but the ground condition at the Tokyo National stadium caused a problem for me. At one point during the competition, there was heavy rain and that caused difficulty because I was wearing socks ( on the impaired leg) which got wet,” Mariyappan informed the indianexpress.com from Tokyo.
#IND have received extra @ParaAthletics medals at #Tokyo2020 than at any earlier Paralympic Games 👏
Two arrived within the males’s excessive bounce – T63 alone…#Silver – Mariyappan Thangavelu #Bronze – Sharad Kumar
Congratulations to @TeamUSA‘s Sam Grewe, who took the #gold #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/AsixouBG1W
— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) August 31, 2021
“Hence, at the point of take-off, I could not adjust properly. My mind got a bit disturbed,” Mariyappan defined.
Mariyappan’s coach, R Satyanarayana claimed that had the climate been good then clearing 1.88m wouldn’t be an issue for his ward.
“Last month he jumped 1.98m in SAI Bangalore. In Rio 2016, he had jumped 1.89m,” reminded Satyanarayana.
It was Satyanarayana who noticed Mariyappan’s expertise on the 2013 National Para-Athletics Championship and took him up for coaching on the Sports Academy of India (SAI) heart for differently-abled in Bengaluru. Incidentally, Mariyappan needed to grow to be a volleyball participant however took up the excessive bounce on the insistence of his highschool bodily training trainer. Within only a 12 months and a half of coaching, he grew to become World No. 1 in 2015 and as they are saying, there was no wanting again from that time.
Mariyappan additionally mentioned that he was upset when he had to surrender the position of the Indian contingent’s flag-bearer throughout the opening ceremony. He was in shut contact with a COVID-positive fellow passenger throughout the flight to Tokyo.
“I was a bit disturbed but my coach kept me motivated. The quarantine was particularly difficult for me,” mentioned the Padma Shri and Khel Ratna awardee who suffered everlasting incapacity in his proper leg after it was crushed underneath a bus when he was solely 5.
Meanwhile, after his medal-winning efficiency, PM Modi had a phrase of encouragement for the 26-year-old. “PM sir called me after the event and congratulated me in Tamil. I am happy that he is encouraging us like this,” mentioned the silver-medallist.
Soaring greater and better!
Mariyappan Thangavelu is synonymous with consistence and excellence. Congratulations to him for profitable the Silver Medal. India is happy with his feat. @189thangavelu #Paralympics #Praise4Para pic.twitter.com/GGhtAgM7vU
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 31, 2021
Meanwhile, the coronavirus-induced lockdown brought on plenty of issues for athletes throughout the globe however for Mariyappan it was the opposite approach spherical.
“It truly labored for him as a result of he was completely disconnected with the general public and that helped him focus and focus higher, mentioned coach Satyanarayana.
Mariyappan Thangavelu failed along with his first two jumps at 1.86m however was profitable along with his third try.
Lauding the trouble of Mariyappan, bronze medallist Sharad Kumar mentioned, “I hope our success becomes the catalyst for the continued growth of para-athletics in India and para-athletes get the much-needed support from the government and the private sector as well.”