NEW DELHI: Indian discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya was visibly emotional on Monday and fell short of words to describe his happiness at winning a silver medal in the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics.
Yogesh clinched silver after registering his season-best attempt of 44.38 in the men's F56 final.
Yogesh threw 44.38 in his sixth and final attempt to take up the top spot before Claudiney Batista of Brazil fired 44.57 in his first attempt to dethrone the Indian athlete.
Yogesh gave a special mention to his mother and also spoke about his foul attempt.
"I'm extremely happy to win the silver medal, it was my debut Games but I'm happy to win the medal. I registered few foul attempts but I came back to win the medal. I want to thank SAI, PCI and a big thank you to my mummy as she supported me throughout my journey," Yogesh told ANI with tears of joy in his eyes.
Yogesh got off to a poor start as his first throw was deemed as foul but the Indian para-athlete soon made up for it as he registered a massive 42.84 in his second attempt.
However, his third and fourth throws were again deemed as foul. Yogesh, who had won a gold medal in the 2019 Indian Grand Prix, came out all guns blazing in the final two throws and registered scores of 43.55 and 44.38 in his fifth and sixth attempt respectively.