Tokyo Paralympics: Devendra Jhajharia wins silver in Javelin, Sundar Gurjar gets bronze

India's Devendra Jhajharia and Sundar Singh Gurjar on Monday won the silver and Bronze medal in the finals of the Men's Javelin throw - F46 event at Tokyo Paralympics. Jhajharia was the defending champion coming into the event after winning the gold medal in Rio five years back and finished the event with the best throw of 64.35 meters. The gold medal was won by Sri Lanka's Dinesh Priyan Herath Mudiyanselage with a best throw of 67.79 meters Sundar Singh Gurjar won the bronze medal with a throw of 64.01 meters. Ajeet Singh finished the vent in the eighth position with a best throw of and 56.15 meters

Tokyo Paralympics: Devendra Jhajharia wins silver 

Sri Lanka's Dinesh led the table with throws of 62.58m, 62.19m and 67.79m in the first three attempts of the final. Jhajharia on the other hand came up with throws of 60.28m, 60.62m, 64.35m in his first three attempts. The Indian fouled his fourth attempt, while Dinesh threw the distance of 62.06m in his fourth attempt. Both the athletes fouled their fifth attempt leaving the contest for a nail-biting finish. The final throw saw both athletes Dinesh once again fouling the final throw while Jhajharia could only cover the distance of 61.23m.

Sundar Singh Gurjar wins bronze

Sundar Singh Gurjar started with throws of 62.26m and 60.20m and was trailing Cuba's Varona Gonzalez for the bronze medal spot. Gurjar fouled his third and fourth attempt but bounced back with a throw of 64.01m to climb to the third spot with the Cuban opponent managing throws of  62.60m and 60.10m in the third and fourth attempts. The Indian's final throw despite being a foul all but secured the bronze medal. 

About Devendra Jhajharia's Paralympics journey 

This is the third Paralympics for Jhajharia after being part of Athens and Rio Paralympic games. The 40-year old won his maiden gold medal during the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens with a world-record throw of 62.15 m. He became the second gold medalist for India at the global event after Murlikant Petkar’s gold in the 50-meter freestyle swimming in the 1972 Heidelberg Games. Jhajharia won his second gold in the Javelin throw event during the Rio Olympics 2016 after throwing to a staggering distance of 63.97 m, bettering his own record of 62.15 m during the Athens Olympics 2004. 

The athlete from Rajasthan received the 2004 Arjuna Award for his performance in the Athens Paralympics 2004. He also became the first Paralympian to be awarded the prestigious Padma Shri Award in 2012. After winning his second gold medal in Rio 2016, the athlete was honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2017.