Shailesh Kumar sets Games record as India sweep the men’s high jump podium again at the Asian Para Games

India’s Shailesh Kumar won gold in the men’s high jump T63 at the Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on Thursday, October 22, clearing 1.89m for a new Games record. Varun Singh Bhati took silver and Rahul Saroha bronze, giving India all three medals in the final.

At the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium, Shailesh and Varun were level until the bar went up to 1.84m. Shailesh then cleared 1.87m and 1.89m to pull clear. Varun finished on a season’s best of 1.84m and Rahul cleared 1.81m. Shailesh’s jump broke the previous Games record of 1.80m, set by India’s Sharad Kumar at Incheon in 2014. Athletes from the Philippines, Myanmar and Pakistan finished fourth to sixth.

It was a repeat of the last edition, when Indians also took gold, silver and bronze in the same event at the Hangzhou Games, held in October 2023. Shailesh won gold there too. Thursday’s result was India’s third podium sweep at these Games, after the men’s discus throw, led by Devender Kumar, and the men’s shot put F46, led by Sachin Khilari.

“Three champions, three medals, one glorious moment for India!” the Sports Authority of India posted on X. “Shailesh Kumar (TOPS) soared to GOLD with a New Games Record of 1.89m, while Varun Singh Bhati (TOPS) claimed SILVER with 1.84m and Rahul secured BRONZE with 1.81m!”

Shailesh, 26, is from Islam Nagar village in Bihar’s Jamui district. He contracted polio at the age of five, which left a permanent impairment in his right leg. He won the world title at the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi with a personal best of 1.91m. He holds a degree in mathematics and works as a Child Development Project Officer with the Bihar government. A day before this gold, he won bronze in the long jump with 5.57m, India Today reported.

Varun, from Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh, won bronze at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and has three bronze medals from the World Para Athletics Championships, in 2017, 2023 and 2025. He is an Arjuna Award winner. Rahul, from Haryana, finished fourth at last year’s World Championships in New Delhi with a personal best of 1.78m.

The final combined two classes. T63 is for athletes with an above-knee amputation or limb deficiency who compete with a prosthesis, while the Indian trio usually compete in T42, which covers impairments affecting the hip and knee, such as leg-length difference or impaired muscle power, The Times of India explained. The sports authority said the sweep ended all three athletes’ campaigns at these Games.