Discus thrower Vinod loses Paralympics bronze, declared ineligible in classification reassessment
Tokyo (PTI): Indian discus thrower Vinod Kumar on Monday lost his F52 category bronze medal at the Paralympics here after being found ineligible in disability classification assessment by the competition panel.
The 41-year-old BSF man, whose Army man father was injured during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, produced a best throw of 19.91m to finish third behind Piotr Kosewicz (20.02m) of Poland and Velimir Sandor (19.98m) of Croatia on Sunday.
However, the result was challenged by some competitors.
"...the panel was unable to allocate the athlete Vinod Kumar from NPC India with a sport class and the athlete was designated as Classification not Completed (CNC)," the organisers said in a statement.
"The athlete is therefore ineligible for the Men's F52 Discus medal event and his results in that competition are void," it added.
F52 is for athletes with impaired muscle power, restricted range of movement, limb deficiency or leg length difference, with athletes competing in seated position with cervical cord injury, spinal cord injury, amputation, and functional disorder.
Para-athletes are classified depending on the type and extent of their disability. The classification system allows athletes to compete those with a similar level of ability.
Vinod's classification was done on August 22.
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Kerala | Setback for LDF in Pathanamthitta: Party worker keeps his word, shaves off moustache
Pathanamthitta: The Left Democratic Front (LDF) suffered a major setback in the local body elections in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district, with the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) emerging with a clear advantage. Amid this political defeat, an LDF worker drew public attention by keeping a promise he had made before the polls.
Babu Varghese, an LDF activist, had publicly declared ahead of the election that he would shave off his trademark moustache if the LDF failed to retain the Pathanamthitta Municipality. After the results were announced and the party lost control of the municipality, Varghese followed through on his promise and shaved his moustache.
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The loss of the Pathanamthitta Municipality has come as a significant blow to the Left parties at the local level.
In addition, the UDF secured majorities in 34 Gram Panchayats and seven Block Panchayats across the district. In the municipal elections as well, the UDF won three municipalities, two of which were previously under Left control.
LDF party worker Babu Varghese, who had vowed to shave his moustache if the LDF failed to win the Pathanamthitta Municipality, has now gone through with it after the party’s defeat. #Pathanamthitta #LDF #KeralaLocalBodyElection2025 #KeralaLocalBodyElection pic.twitter.com/gxQ9dKFQSt
— Harish M (@chnmharish) December 13, 2025
