Asian Para Games 2026: Praveen Kumar Defends High Jump Gold Medal, Banti Brings Silver

In the men’s high jump T64 event at the Asian Para Games 2026, India claimed gold and silver, as Praveen Kumar and Banti achieved the podium finishes.

Although it was officially classified as T64, athletes who run with a prosthetic lower limb, all five competitors were T44 athletes who are with lower-limb impairments who run using two anatomical limbs without prostheses.

Defending champion Praveen Kumar, the 2024 Paralympics gold medalist and 2020 Paralympics silver medalist, set a new games record with a 2.05m jump to win the gold medal. He achieved the distance after two failed attempts. The Asian record holder (2.08m) broke the previous Asian Para Games record, 1.98m by Temurbek Giyazov from Uzbekistan (2018).

Banti produced his personal best performance, as his 1.92m jump delivered a silver medal for his country. Meanwhile, Temurbek Giyazov from Uzbekistan (1.86m) claimed the bronze medal, while the other two participants, Md Selim Reza from Bangladesh and Wilson Sante Jr. from the Philippines, delivered identical personal best performances (1.83m).