Sharad Kumar is an Indian para-athlete/coach who recently won a silver at the ongoing 2024 Paris Paralympics, find out more about him and his disability
Sharad Kumar lost out to American Paralympian Ezra Frech, who won the gold with a jump of 1.94 m.
Who is high jump para-athlete Sharad Kumar, biography, age, disability, medals, state and record
The veteran para-athlete suffered paralysis in his left leg after taking spurious polio medicine when he was just aged two.
Sharad Kumar set a personal best record of 1.88m as he won silver at the 2024 Paralympics.
Sharad Kumar bio
Sharad Kumar is an Indian para-athlete who was born on March 1, 1992, in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India. He competes in the high jump event and he is a former world no. 1. Sharad recently won a silver at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris. He also represented India during the 2016 Summer Paralympics, finishing at sixth place, and also won a silver in the 2017 World ParaAthletics Championships.
Height and weight
Sharad Kumar currently stands at a height of 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) and roughly weighs around 58 kg (128 lb).
Education
During his childhood, Sharad Kumar attended St. Paul’s School in Darjeeling, where he started playing high jump in Class 7. He then moved to Delhi to pursue his higher studies, completing his higher secondary at Modern School and graduating in Political Science from Kirori Mal College. Following his graduation, Sharad completed his post-graduation in Politics with Specialization in International relations from the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Career
As a student, Sharad Kumar grew up breaking school and district records while competing against able-bodied athletes. He currently trains at the SAI centre in Bangalore, where he also serves as a coach. Sharad made his international debut back in 2010 during the Asian Para Games. He then took part in the 2012 Malaysian Open Para athletics championship, where he won the event and attained the world no. 1 ranking aged 19.
After missing out on the London Paralympics due to a failed drug test, he eventually made a comeback in the 2014 Asian Para Games. The veteran para-athlete won a gold and broke a 12-year Asian Games record while also regaining the World No. 1 spot. He also took part in the Rio Paralympics 2016 and won a Silver in 2017 World ParaAthletics Championships the following year.
Sharad Kumar then won a Gold Medal in the 2018 Para Asían Games Jakarta and set a new Game Record and Continental Record. He eventually started training in Ukraine, under TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme, government of India) since 2017
Sharad Kumar has an Instagram account with the handle @sharadjumper, where he has over 5k followers and about 63 posts.