India completed another podium clean sweep at the Asian Para Games 2026, as the men’s high jump T63 produced the proud moment. While Shailesh Kumar set a games record to defend his gold medal, Varun Bhati and Rahul Saroha also produced top performances to claim silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Although the official classification was T63, four out of six athletes, including all three Indian medalists, were T42 athletes. T42 and T63 classifications are for athletes who compete with lower-limb impairments. T63 athletes compete using a running prosthesis on the affected leg, while the T42 athletes compete without a prosthesis.
Shailesh Kumar set the T42 games record by securing a 1.89m jump, breaking the previous record of 1.80m by another Indian Sharad Kumar in 2014. Later, the Asian record holder (1.91m) attempted to set a new Asian record with 1.92m, but he failed to set that bar in three chances.
The 2025 World Para Athletics Championships gold medalist Shailesh Kumar also won the gold medal at the Asian Para Games 2022.
Varun Bhati equalled his season-best performance with a 1.84m jump to secure the silver medal. Another Indian Rahul Saroha produced his personal best jump of 1.81m to complete the podium clean sweep for the country by clinching the bronze medal.
Asian Para Games 2026: Men’s High Jump T63 – Final Scores
Rank | Athlete (Nation) | 1.50 | 1.55 | 1.60 | 1.65 | 1.70 | 1.75 | 1.78 | 1.81 | 1.84 | 1.87 | 1.89 | 1.92 | Distance (Meters) | Notes |
Gold | Shailesh Kumar T42 (India) | — | — | — | — | — | O | — | XO | O | XO | O | XXX | 1.89 | Games Record |
Silver | Varun Bhati T42 (India) | — | — | — | — | O | O | O | O | XO | X– | XX | 1.84 | =Season Best | |
Bronze | Rahul Saroha T42 (India) | — | — | — | O | O | XXO | O | O | XXX | 1.81 | Personal Best | |||
4 | Edwin Jr. Enguito T63 (Philippines) | O | — | XO | XXX | 1.60 | |||||||||
=4 | Zaw Min Tun T63 (Myanmar) | O | O | XO | XXX | 1.60 | |||||||||
6 | Muhammad Nadeem T42 (Pakistan) | XO | O | XXX | 1.55 |