Everything You Need To Know About Varun Bhati - Who Won India A Bronze At The Rio Paralympics

Varun Singh Bhati is the name which is making headlines across India after winning the bronze medal in the men's high jump T-42 event at the Rio Paralympics on Saturday. Bhati recorded his personal best jump of 1.86 metres to finish third in the event which was won by Tamil Nadu's Mariyappan Thangavelu who jumped 1.89m.

AFP

Here is all you need to know about this 21-year-old.

A Greater Noida resident, Varun Singh Bhati is India's Para high jumper in the T42 category. Afflicted by Polio at a young age, Varun somehow managed to find the right balance in sport and education and excelled in both the fields.

Despite his disability, Varun took to high jump from his school days and consistently got better. He competed on many occasions with able-bodied athletes.

Facebook/Varun Singh Bhati

In the run up to the 2012 London Paralympics, Varun became popular when he registered the 'A' qualification mark in the event with a performance of 1.60m. However, he could not make the cut to London 2012 and failed due to limited slots available to India.

AFP

In the 2014 Asian Para Games in Incheon, (Korea), Varun was also part of the Indian team where he managed to come in 5th. Interestingly, in the same year he won a gold medal at the 2014 China Open Athletics Championship.

In 2015 he came in 5th again at the 2015 Para World Championship in Doha (Qatar), where he performed better than other established Indian para high jumpers such as HN Girisha and Sharad Kumar.

Reuters

Among other India¡¯s leading para high jumpers, Varun recorded a jump of 1.82m at the 2016 IPC Athletics Asia-Oceania Championship where he won a gold as well as set a new Asian Record and qualified for Rio 2016 Paralympics.

Today, he became a trending topic in India and his countrymen can be proud of his achievements!