Kobe, May 25 (HS). India won silver and bronze medals in the men's javelin throw F46 event after Sri Lanka's Dinesh Priyantha Herath, who finished second, won the protest against Sri Lanka's Dinesh Priyantha Herath at the World Para Athletics Championships.
Rinku Hooda and Ajeet Singh finished third and fourth respectively in the men's F46 javelin throw final on Friday, but the results were withheld after India lodged a protest over Sri Lankan Herath, who finished second in the category, competing. After investigation, it was found that Herath was ineligible to compete in the category.
In para sports, athletes are classified into groups of similar levels of physical ability to allow for fair competition.
The F46 classification is for athletes with arm impairments, weak muscles or passive range of motion in the arms, with athletes competing standing.
“Herath was not classified properly and did not belong to the F46 category,” an official of the Indian Paralympic Committee said.
India got a favourable verdict and Herath was disqualified. Rinku, who originally finished third with an effort of 62.77m, was upgraded to second while Ajeet (62.11m) was awarded the bronze medal.
With the silver and bronze, India's medal tally increased to 14 (five gold, five silver, four bronze) and it placed sixth overall.
This is the country's best performance ever, surpassing its previous record of 10 medals (three gold, four silver and three bronze) won at the 2023 edition in Paris.