Ayush Verma wins gold in men's shot put F53 at Asian Para Games

Indian para-athlete Ayush Verma secured a gold medal in the men's shot put F53 event at the 5th Asian Para Games on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. Held in Japan, the competition saw Verma triumph with a winning throw of 8.16 metres on his fifth attempt. According to Sportstar reporting, Verma's triumph delivered India's tenth gold medal of the Aichi-Nagoya edition, and ninth within athletics alone. LatestLY noted that India's overall medal count stood at an impressive 38, demonstrating the nation's growing prowess in para-sports.

Hailing from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Verma began competing in para-sports in 2020 under the guidance of coach Robin Kumar, adapting to the rigorous demands of seated throwing events. The F53 classification category specifically serves athletes experiencing severe impairments in their trunk and lower limbs while maintaining lower impacts on hand-grip function, forcing competitors to generate throwing momentum primarily from their chest, upper back, and shoulders, according to detailed reports from outlets including Eastern Mirror, ABP Live English, and LatestLY.

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Asian Para Games 2026: Ayush Verma Wins Men’s F53 Shot Put Gold, Sheetal Devi-Payal Nag Claim Archery Silver

The podium finish was fiercely contested among the region's top throwers. Iran's Alireza Hemami pushed for the top spot before finishing with a silver-medal throw of 8.09 metres, as detailed by Qazinform News Agency via Jiji Press. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan's Makhambet Serikkaliyev secured the bronze medal with a personal-best throw of 6.81 metres, according to the Sports and Physical Culture Committee of Kazakhstan's Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

This golden performance built directly upon Verma's earlier success in Japan. As reported by LatestLY and other sources, he had already claimed a bronze medal in the men's javelin throw F53/F54 event on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, where he registered 17.88m and shared the podium with compatriot Pradeep Kumar, who won silver with a personal best of 27.45m.

The wider contingent of Indian para-athletes also delivered standout performances across the games. Reports from Eastern Mirror and National Herald highlighted a dominant stretch of competition that included Deepthi Jeevanji successfully defending her 400m T20 title and Nishad Kumar claiming a double gold achievement across high jump and long jump events. Nishad cleared 2.04m to win the high jump T47 title with a new Games record, having already secured the long jump T47 gold on Monday. Simran also equalled a new Games record in the 200m T12.

Additional success unfolded in field and track disciplines. Pranav Soorma and Devender Kumar won gold in the discus throw, with Devender leading an Indian clean sweep of the podium in the men's discus throw F43/F44/F62/F64 event with a 49.71m effort and 781 Raza points, ahead of Rakesh with 49.35m and 771 points, and Pardeep Kumar with 51.15m and 669 points. 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 bronze medals in men's shot put, with Praveen Sharma recording 13.86m in the F11 event and Hokato Hotozhe Sema finished third in the F56/F57 category with 14.65m. Furthermore, ABP Live English noted a dominant performance in the men's shot put F46 event where Sachin Khilari established a new Games record with a throw of 15.87 metres to seal gold, Mohd Yasser took silver with 15.06 metres, and Parveen secured bronze with 14.94 metres. Bhagyashri added a silver medal in the women's shot put F34 final with a throw of 8.19 metres, while China's Lijuan Zou claimed gold with a Games-record 9.07 metres. In archery, the teenage compound women's doubles duo of Sheetal Devi and Payal Nag claimed silver, as reported by The Daily Jagran.

The 5th Asian Para Games, known as Aichi-Nagoya 2026, commenced on October 18, 2026, bringing together 2,590 athletes from 45 nations competing across 489 events in 18 sports, with broader updates tracked via regional coverage as the competition progresses toward its closing ceremony.