Sachin, making his Paralympic debut at the age of 34, won the silver medal in the men’s shot put F46 event with a best throw of 16.32m, taking India’s medal tally to 21 at Paris 2024.
The final saw him in a close contest with defending champion Greg Stewart of Canada as both cleared the 16m barrier multiple times in their six attempts. In the end, Stewart won the gold medal as he improved his season’s best performance twice and won with a best throw of 16.38m. The bronze medal was won by Luka Bekovic of Croatia with his personal best effort of 16.27m.
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Sachin was joined by two other Indians in the final. Rohit Kumar finished ninth with a best throw of 14.10m, while Mohammed Yasir finished eighth with a best throw of 14.21m.
The competition was tight in the final, which included Sachin and Stewart along with world record holder Joshua Cinnamo of the USA and World Championship bronze medallist Kerwin Noamdo of South Africa.
Sachin was the biggest contender for the gold medal as he was the reigning world champion. In fact he has won the world gold medal twice in 2023 and 2024. He was also the Asian Para Games gold medalist in Hangzhou.
The Indian started the final on top and threw an area record of 16.32m in his second attempt. It was indeed a medal-winning throw in the early rounds, but others still had plenty of opportunities to overtake him. Stewart managed 16.34m in his third attempt, which put him on top.
Once Stewart reached the top, he never looked back. Sachin had three consecutive throws of over 16m, but they were not enough to take the lead. Meanwhile, Stewart improved further by throwing 16.38 in his fourth attempt, almost sealing the win.
Croatia’s Bekovic, who failed to clear 16m in his first four throws, won the bronze medal with a best effort of 16.27m in his fifth attempt. Sinamo finished fourth with a best effort of 15.66m.
Sachin, who hails from Sangli district of Maharashtra, has limited movement in his left hand. At the age of 9, he fell from a bicycle and suffered a fracture in his left hand. Later, due to gangrene, he started having difficulty in walking.
He started throwing javelin during his college days and later won gold medals in national events. He suffered a shoulder injury in 2019, which forced him to quit javelin throwing. After a conversation with coach Satya Narayan, he opted to participate in shot put. Under the guidance of his current coach Arvind Chavan, Sachin broke several records in shot put, culminating in a medal win on his Paralympic debut on Wednesday.