India’s Ayush Verma clinched the gold medal in the Men’s Shot Put F53 final at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games in Nagoya on Wednesday. Ayush claimed the gold with a best throw of 8.16m. Iran’s Alireza Hemami took silver with 8.09m, while Kazakhstan’s Makhambet Serikkaliyev bagged bronze with 6.81m.
The F53 class is for athletes with limb deficiency, leg length difference, impaired muscle power or impaired range of movement.
Notably, this is Ayush’s second medal in Japan after he won bronze in the men’s javelin throw F53/F54, sharing the podium with compatriot Pradeep Kumar, who won silver.
Ayush began his journey in competitive para-sports in 2020, pursuing shot put under the guidance of coach Robin Kumar. Competing in seated throwing events, Ayush has pursued his sporting ambitions while adapting to the physical demands and technical requirements of the F53 classification. The event requires considerable upper-body strength, coordination, throwing technique and consistency.
Ayush’s entry into para-athletics in 2020 marked the beginning of his competitive sporting journey. His continued involvement in the discipline reflects his commitment to training and developing his abilities as a para-athlete.
On Tuesday, Indian para athletes had a record-breaking day. Deepthi Jeevanji successfully defended her 400m T20 title, Nishad Kumar struck his second gold of the Games and Simran equalled a new Games record in the 200m T12.
Pranav Soorma and Devender Kumar also won gold in the discus throw, with Devender leading an Indian clean sweep of the podium.
Nishad Kumar, meanwhile, cleared 2.04m to win the high jump T47 title with a new Games record. He had also won the long jump T47 gold on Monday, making him a double champion at Aichi-Nagoya.
In the men’s discus throw F43/F44/F62/F64, India swept all three medals. Devender Kumar won gold with a 49.71m effort and 781 Raza points, while Rakesh secured silver with 49.35m and 771 points. Pardeep Kumar took bronze after his 51.15m throw earned 669 points.
Pradeep Kumar won silver in the javelin throw F53/F54 with a personal best of 27.45m. Ayush Verma joined him on the podium with bronze after registering 17.88m.
Preeti Pal added silver in the 200m T35, finishing in 29.53s behind the People’s Republic of China’s Zhou Xia, who set a Games record of 28.03s.
India also collected two bronze medals in men’s shot put. Praveen Sharma recorded 13.86m in the F11 event, while Hokato Hotozhe Sema finished third in the F56/F57 category with 14.65m.
