Grappling with injury 3 months back, high jumper Praveen is now a record breaker

 Just three months before the Paralympic Games, high jumper Praveen Kumar was grappling with a groin injury during the World Championships, which stopped him from going all out for gold but he still managed a third-place finish -- and the big ticket to Paris.

Not knowing what the future had in store for him, he gave it his best shot in the limited time he had to overcome the injury. He was helped in his endeavour by a positive mindset and the wholehearted support of his coach Satyapal Singh, who asked him to immediately go for an MRI to nail the problem.

Thanks to the efforts of his coach and his never-say-die attitude, Praveen was up and running within 15 days and preparing in earnest for the Paralympics.

On Friday, the 21-year-old from Noida, born with a short leg, gave a dazzling performance by smashing the Paralympics record with a best jump of 2.08m in the T64 category to finish on top of the podium.

Praveen acknowledged the help rendered by his coach after winning gold.

"I want to give credit for my success to my coach Satyapal sir, my sponsors and my physio. When I got injured three month back, they supported me wholeheartedly. I had a groin problem and I want to thank all of them for their support.

"During the World Championships in June, I had an injury. I wasn't able to exert myself much. So, I spoke to my coach and he got an MRI done. The priority was to heal the injury as quickly as possible and we achieved it in 15 days," added Praveen, who hails from Govindgarh village in Gautam Budh Nagar in UP and had won silver at the Tokyo Games three years back.

The high jumper added that following his recovery, his coach kept pushing him to cross 2.05m in training.

"He (coach) kept focusing on that 2.05m mark and I tried to ensure the horizontal bar didn't fall. Every time I went for the jump, I was only aiming for my personal best. In fact, before the Paralympics I was clearing 2:08m and 2.10m, but here in Paris I could do only 2.08m," said Praveen.

Praveen credited his family for his success, saying his parents always wanted him to achieve a personal best irrespective of whether he returned with a medal or not.

"Before I took off for the 2.08m jump that fetched me the gold medal, I closed my eyes and saw my parents and coach urging me to go for the record. I thought they had always wanted me to win the gold here," said Praveen.

"My family supported me a lot. When I was on my way to Paris, they said 'try giving your personal best. Medal is not that important, but you should do your personal best'. That was always on my mind and I improved my personal best by one cm," said Praveen.

Opting to start from 1.89m, Praveen 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 USA's Derek Loccident fighting for the top spot on the podium but failed to clear the mark.

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

"I was determined to do 2.10m after I did 2.08m because my coach asked me to attempt 2.10m. I tried my best and I crossed the bar as well, but unfortunately it fell. Next time, I'll cross 2.10m," he said confidently.