Nishad Kumar lay on the foam pit for over a minute with his hand covering his face. If you hadn't been watching the men's high jump T47 final of the Paris Paralympics, there was nothing to suggest that Nishad had just won his second successive silver medal at the Paralympics on Sunday.
Yet, Nishad wasn't pleased. He knew he had more in the tank after failing all three jumps at 2.08m, while the USA's Roderick Townsend, the two-time defending Paralympic gold medallist, took home his third gold on the trot.
PARALYMPICS 2024 KEY DATES | EVERY MEDAL WON BY INDIA AT THE PARALYMPICS | PARALYMPIC CLASSIFICATIONS EXPLAINED
Nishad's silver, meanwhile, was India's seventh medal of the Paralympics and came less than an hour after Preethi Pal won her second bronze of the Games in the women's 100m T35.
He began the evening with smooth clearances at 1.95m and 2m, automatically putting him in medal contention. It was always going to be a two-way contest between him and Townsend as the American began his evening at 1.98 and then went past the 2.02m mark, by which time half the field was eliminated.
Donning his trademark multi-coloured polarized sunglasses, Nishad comfortably cleared 2.04m by a fair margin but Townsend was a level up as he cleared 2.06m. In the hunt for gold, Nishad needed to clear 2.08m, which was 1cm short of his personal best. But he just couldn't on the evening and was lifted by Townsend after he sunk into the foam pit after his final attempt. Nishad bowed down to thank the track.
Nishad Kumar came to Paris with a Paralympic silver medal and leaves Paris with another silver medal 🥈
He becomes only the eighth Indian to win multiple Paralympic medals 👏🏾https://t.co/Q8Uxq2d4CT#Paris2024 | #Paralympics2024
- ESPN India (@ESPNIndia) September 1, 2024
It had all started in 2017, when Nishad -- bereft of choices -- took a gamble: to pursue a career in para-athletics. He watched the 2016 Paralympics and felt that's where he belonged. So much so that he did not even pursue any higher studies. He left home and moved to Panchkula in September 2017 to train under coach Naseem Ahmad and says he "surrendered himself to the track", telling it that his future was in its hands.
This was at a time when his family struggled to make ends meet. "We didn't even have money to buy salt," Nishad tells ESPN, describing the time. His father took up extra jobs to fund him and Nishad found it hard to afford rent and cook for himself in Panchkula, but knew he had no other choice. After a year of toil, came the reward: his name was included in the three-month national camp ahead of the 2019 World Championships and he shifted base to the SAI Centre in Patiala, where his housing and nutrition were taken care of and he could solely focus on his sport.
It led to instant results: Nishad increased his PB by 5cm and jumped 2m to win bronze at the Worlds as his career took off. Silver medals at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics + 2023 and 2024 World Championships along with a gold at the Para Asian Games. In 2023, he became an Adidas sponsored athlete: "That was a big deal for me," he says. "We used to desperately look for Kalenji/Decathlon shoes for 1100-1200 rupees and now I'm here, from Kalenji to Adidas."
"You see how far I have come...it's all because of how much my parents struggled to get me here. I will never forget those days," he says.
Nishad was seven and a half years old when he lost his right arm to a grass-cutting machine on the farm. His hand had to be amputated and Nishad was too young to understand what it meant at that time. "I didn't feel, or rather understand that I was different from others. I used to go to the temple and pray to God to give me my hand back," recalls Nishad. "God took away one hand, but look at all that he gave me in return," he adds in the same breath.
He would often get picked on by the children, but his mother kept telling him that he was meant for bigger and better things. Nishad, unaware of the Indian Army's recruitment policy, made it his life's goal to join the Forces and support his family. He would wake up at 4:30 am every morning and work on his fitness with fellow Army aspirants before he learnt that amputees couldn't join up.
Then came the sports route. It's a gamble that's paid off in many ways: giving his family much-need stability and him the success he knew he deserved. Nishad's is a tale of perseverance and courage in the face of mighty adversity and the 2024 chapter ends with him on the second step of the Paralympic podium, yet again.