India Suffers Setback at Tokyo Paralympics as Vinod Kumar Loses His Bronze Medal

Indian paralympian Vinod Kumar bagged a bronze medal at the Tokyo Paralympics on Sunday in the sports class F52. He produced a best throw of 19.91 metres to finish third behind Piotr Kosewicz (20.02 meters) of Poland and Velimir Sandor (19.98 meters) of Croatia.

The joy of Indian sports lovers didn’t last for long as discus thrower Vinod Kumar lost his bronze medal after the competition committee of the Tokyo Paralympics on Monday found him ineligible in the disability classification assessment.

The decision was taken by the Tokyo Paralympics Technical Delegates.

An official statement was released in this regard, which said: “Following re-assessment by the classification panel, athlete Vinod Kumar is ineligible for the Men’s F52 Discus medal event and his results in that competition are void”.

Bad luck for vinod kumar, loses his bronze medal after a review in the classification issue

But don't worry vinod ji, you are already a champion for every indian. bravo!@ParalympicIndia #ParalympicsTokyo2020 #Bronze #IND #Paralympics

— Mufs kapasi (journalist)🇮🇳 (@mufskapasi) August 30, 2021

CONFIRMED

After being under a review since last night, India's one bronze medal is taken back. Vinod Kumar's classification has been reviewed and he's not eligible in discus throw F52. #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics https://t.co/KaFNFZanCN

— Zenia D'cunha (@ZENIADCUNHA) August 30, 2021

​F52 is for athletes with impaired muscle power, restricted range of movement, limb deficiency or leg length difference, with athletes competing in a seated position with cervical cord injury, spinal cord injury, amputation, and functional disorder.

Para-athletes are classified depending on the type and extent of their disability. The classification system allows athletes to compete with those with a similar level of ability.

Kumar’s classification was done on 22 August.

With this, India's medal tally has now been reduced to six at the Tokyo Paralympics.