Even as high jumper Sharad Kumar was competing at the T64 final at the Paralympics, his thoughts drifted to war-torn Ukraine where his coach Nikitin Yevhen and family reside. Sharad trained under Yevhen in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, for over five years before moving base to the Philippines.
Russian airstrikes injured over 40 people in Kharkiv earlier this week, according to reports. Sharad left Kharkiv when a Covid lockdown was imposed but continued to pick the brain of Yevhen via video calls.
The two-year-old war has taken a toll on the Ukranians and coach Yevhen is no exception. But Tuesday evening the seasoned coach could smile for a bit, taking delight in Sharad’s silver medal in Paris. The Bihar-born jumper, who contracted polio when he was two, took second place clearing the bar at 1.88m in his second attempt to upgrade from this bronze in Tokyo.
“He was thrilled and sent me an audio message where he was almost crying,” Sharad, who has a masters in international relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, said.
“The war affected me significantly. My coach couldn’t be with me due to the war, so we opted for online coaching. The situation was complicated, he couldn’t move because he’s the only man in the house and his kids are involved in the war, but his guidance has been invaluable. We communicate daily,” he added.
Sharad used to train with Yevhen in Sports Authority of India in Bangalore in 2012. Once Yevhen returned to Ukraine, Sharad decided to follow him in 2017 to pursue his sport in the ‘high jump capital of the world’.
“I owe all my major medals to coach Nikitin and my training stint in Kharkiv. Bohdan Bondarenko, the Rio Olympics bronze medalist, trained at the same school in Kharkiv, where I was coached,” had told The Indian Express in a previous interaction.
During his stay in Ukraine, Sharad found time to attend Russian language classes at the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute while completing his business management course. Sharad can understand Russian and can string together words to make basic conversation.
Three in a row
Compatriot and serial medal winner Mariyappan Thangavelu settled for the bronze with a 1.85m clearance to become the first Indian to medal at three consecutive editions of the Paralympics. Mariyappan, 29, has a gold in Rio and silver in Tokyo while the bronze is the latest addition to his tally.
“I had a good feeling during the warmup but my body did not open properly during the event today. I had come with the intention of winning gold but missed the mark. I did not get that big jump. I had a fever yesterday and I didn’t fully recover. My muscles did not respond properly and couldn’t find my rhythm in my runups. I will now focus on the World Championships,” Mariyappan said.
American Ezra Frech stood head and shoulders above the rest of the field, bagging gold with a Paralympic record clearing 1.94m. This was Frech’s second gold in less than 24 hours in Paris after the 19-year-old stunned the T63 100m field, clocking 12.06s.
Sharad,32, didn’t hold back his praises for his American opponent and compared him with pole vault phenom Mondo Armand Duplantis. “He is exceptional. He has written his own script. How can you get bigger than that, somebody writing their own script? He is the Duplantis (Olympic pole vault champion and world record holder) of Paralympics. He is very young but he is proving himself at the point where it matters,” said the 2017 World Championship silver medallist.
