Landmine blast survivor Indian shot-putter Hokato Sema came up with his career-best throw of 14.65 metres to secure a bronze medal for the country in the men’s F57 category final at the Paralympic Games here on Friday.
The 40-year-old Dimapur-born Army man, who had won the bronze medal at the Hangzhou Para Games last year, started with a mediocre throw of 13.88m before he hit a purple patch.
The only athlete from Nagaland who is part of the Indian contingent at the Paralympics touched the 14m mark on his second throw and then improved further with a heave of 14.40m.
However, Sema, who lost his left leg in a landmine blast while taking part in an anti-terrorist operation in Jammu & Kashmir’s Chowkibal in 2002, achieved his best throw in his fourth throw, surpassing his personal best of 14.49m on way to the bronze medal.
Iran’s Yasin Khosravi, the 31-year-old two-time para world champion and Hangzhou Para Games gold medallist, clinched the top spot with a Paralympic record of 15.96m, which he achieved on his fourth attempt. He missed rewriting his own world mark of 16.01m by just five centimetres.
Brazil’s Thiago Dos Santos took the silver with his best throw of 15.06m.
Sema, who was encouraged by a senior army official at the Pune-based Artificial Limb Centre to take up shot put after seeing his fitness, took up the sport in 2016 at the age of 32 and was soon competing in the National Para Athletics Championships in Jaipur the same year.
The other Indian in the fray, Rana Soman, silver medallist at the Hangzhou Para Games, finished fifth with a best throw of 14.07m.
F57 category is for field athletes with movement affected to a low degree in one leg, moderately in both feet or the absence of limbs. These athletes have to compensate for significant asymmetry in power from the legs but have full upper body power.
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