New Delhi: Indian para-athletes Anjanaben Bumbadiya and Jayanti Nehra secured gold and silver medals, respectively, in the women’s 400m T47 event at the Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Thursday, delivering a double podium finish for India.
Competing at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium, Anjanaben claimed gold with a time of 59.97 seconds, earning 848 Raza points. Jayanti finished second in 1 minute 0.65 seconds, securing silver with 815 Raza points.
Thailand’s Sasirawan Inthachot took bronze after clocking 1 minute 2.58 seconds (714 Raza points), while Nepal’s Prabha Angdembe finished fourth in 1 minute 15.81 seconds (89 Raza points).
Anjanaben’s performance brought her close to the Asian Para Games record of 58.39 seconds, set by China’s Li Lu at the 2018 edition in Jakarta.
India added another medal in para-athletics as Tejalben Damor clinched silver in the women’s 400m T12 event, clocking 57.60 seconds.
Iran’s Hajar Safarzadeh won gold in 56.43 seconds, while China’s Shen Yaqin, competing with guide He Yuchong, secured bronze with a time of 58.04 seconds.
Born in Gujarat in 2001, Anjanaben is a rising Indian para-sprinter who has a congenital upper-limb impairment. She is the reigning 2025 Khelo India Para Games champion.
She recorded a personal-best time of 1 minute 0.04 seconds at the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi.
Meanwhile, Jayanti, born in Odisha in 1999, competes in the T47 classification. She sustained severe second-degree burns after accidentally falling into an earthen stove at the age of one, resulting in permanent contractures affecting her left elbow and hand.
Her athletic potential was identified by school coach Bishnu Prasad Mishra, who enrolled her at his Gurukul Athletic Training Centre in Sakhigopal and provided training free of cost.
Jayanti previously won two medals at the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta, securing silver in the women’s 400m T47 event with a time of 59.71 seconds and bronze in the 200m T47 event in 27.45 seconds.
She also won gold in the 400m at the 2017 World Junior Para Athletics Championships in Nottwil, Switzerland, earning the world youth champion title.
[DD News]