Tokyo Paralympics: Haider Ali wins first gold for Pakistan in discus throw competition
Two Pakistani athletes participated in the Tokyo Paralympics this year.
LAHORE (Dunya News) - Pakistan’s para-athlete Haider Ali has won the first gold for Pakistan in the discus throw competition at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Haider Ali threw a 55.26 metres throw in his fifth attempt out of the total six he made to score the best distance.
The silver medal was bagged by Ukraine s Zhabnyak with a 52.43 metres throw, while Brazilian Teixeira de Souza won bronze with a 51.86 throw.
Two Pakistani athletes participated in the Tokyo Paralympics this year, including Anila Izzat Baig and Haider Ali.
When Anila Baig got disqualified for not winning any medal, Ali became the last hope for Pakistan to win a medal. He competed in the F37 Discus Throw competition and won the first gold for Pakistan in the Paralympics.
Earlier, Haider had won two medals, a silver in Beijing in 2008 and a Bronze in Rio in 2016 in the long jump event for Pakistan.
He has also competed in the discus throw at the World Para-Athletics Championship in Dubai in 2019 where he won silver medal for Pakistan.
Haider Ali hails from Gujranwala and suffers from cerebral palsy. It is a disorder in which one part of a person’s body becomes weakened as compared to other parts. He has a limb-length discrepancy by birth. His right leg is two inches thinner and one inch shorter than his left leg.
All para-athletes with cerebral palsy participate in the F37 category.
The US Embassy in Islamabad has congratulated Haider Ali for winning the first-ever Paralympic gold medal for Pakistan
Meanwhile, in a tweet, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhary Fawad Hussain said Pakistan is proud of Haider Ali.
