World Para Athletics Championships | High jumper Praveen Kumar determined to add the missing gold

A double Olympic medalist and Asian record holder, Praveen Kumar will be one of the home favourites at the upcoming World Para Athletics Championships later this month. And the 22-year old high jumper is keen to add the one gold his cabinet is missing.

Starting his competitive journey with silver at the Junior World Championships in 2019, Praveen — who has a short leg and competes in the T64 category — followed it up with silver at the Tokyo Paralympics, gold at the Asian Games and bronze at the World Championships in 2023 and gold at the Paris Paralympics, setting a new Asian record and personal best of 2.08m in the process.

Praveen had to switch from the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium — venue for the World Championships — to Thyagaraj Complex due to relaying of the track and then to the Vinod Nagar Sports Complex for the same reason.

“There was a little problem moving training bases but it’s ok now. We have been told that Nehru Stadium will be open from the 15th. That should give us enough time,” he explained.

He will have friends and family watching him compete for the first time ever. “Everyone is excited. My father wanted to know how they can come. When you know your family is watching you, it motivates you to do better. There will be some pressure also but I will try to make it my strength and stay focused on my performance.”

Winning gold at home will be special, he admitted. “I have to break my personal record (2.08m) here and I am confident of doing it. When I got on the podium in Tokyo and heard the National Anthem of Britain (Jonathan Broom-Edwards won gold), I felt our National Anthem should also play on this stage and that became my target for 2024. When over 1.5 lakh people give respect to your National Flag and Anthem, you feel a pride that cannot be described. That pride has always been my driving force. Now I want that at home also,” he concluded.