Sharad Kumar (born 1 March 1992) is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

para

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er and a former world no. 1. Born in

Muzaffarpur Muzaffarpur () is a city located in Muzaffarpur district in the Tirhut region of the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Tirhut division, the Muzaffarpur district and the Muzaffarpur Railway District. It is the fourth m ...

, he made his International debut at the

2010 Asian Para Games The 2010 Asian Para Games (), also known as the First Asian Para Games, was a parallel sport event for Asian athletes with a disability held in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China, China. Two weeks after the conclusion of the 2010 Asian Games, 1 ...

. At the

2014 Asian Para Games The 2014 Asian Para Games ( ko, 2014년 장애인 아시아 경기대회/2014년 장애인 아시안 게임, Icheon sibsa-nyeon jangaein Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheon sibsa-nyeon jangaein Asian Geim), also known as the 2nd Asian Para Games, was an A ...

, he won the gold medal in the high jump ( T42), breaking a 12-year Asian Games record, and reclaimed the world no. 1 position. Kumar participated in the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

finishing sixth. He won Silver in 2017 World ParaAthletics Championships. He is supported by

GoSports Foundation The GoSports Foundation (GSF) is an independent, donor-funded non-profit venture, working towards securing funds and professional expertise for some of India's junior Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Established in 2008, it has worked with nume ...

through the Para Champions Programme.

Early life

Sharad Kumar was born on 1 March 1992 in

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

. At the age of two, he suffered

paralysis Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

of his left leg after taking spurious polio medicine at a local eradication drive. Sharad studied at St. Paul's School (Darjeeling) where he started high jump in Class 7. He broke school and district records competing against able-bodied athletes. For further studies, he moved to Delhi, where he studied his Plus Two at Modern School and graduated in Political Science from

Kirori Mal College Kirori Mal College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi. Established in 1954, it is located in the North Campus of the university in New Delhi, India. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the sciences, humanities ...

. Post Graduation in Politics with Specialization in International relations from

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and r ...

Career

Sharad made his international debut in 2010 at the

Asian Para Games The Asian Para Games also known as Para Asiad is a multi-sport event regulated by the Asian Paralympic Committee that's held every four years after every Asian Games for athletes with physical disabilities. Both events had adopted the strategy ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

. In January 2012, he jumped 1.64m, thus qualifying for the

2012 Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Game ...

. In April 2012, with a jump of 1.75m at the Malaysian Open Para athletics championship, he became world no. 1 at the age of 19. However he missed the London Paralympics after testing positive for a banned drug. He made his comeback in the 2014 Para Asian Games, where he won gold by clearing 1.80m, breaking a 12-year Asian Games record and also regaining the world no. 1 spot. He participated in the Rio Paralympics 2016, finishing at sixth position with a best of 1.77m. He started training under Mr. Satyanarayana, National Para Athletics Coach since March 2015. He won Silver in 2017 World ParaAthletics Championships with a jump of 1.84m. He won Gold Medal in 2018 Para Asían Games Jakarta setting a new Game Record and Continental Record by jumping 1.90m. Training in Ukraine since 2017, under TOPS ( Target Olympic Podium Scheme, government of India )

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Sharad Indian male high jumpers 1992 births Living people Paralympic athletes for India Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Patna Sportspeople from Bihar Athletes from Bihar St. Paul's School, Darjeeling alumni Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for India Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Recipients of the Arjuna Award

Early life

Career

See also

References