It is unlikely that one would know about Islamnagar village – a nondescript village in Bihar's Jamui district – unless going to the historic city of Nalanda. However, on Sunday, the village made it to the national headlines when one of its sons, Shailesh Kumar became World Champion in the men’s high jump T63 category at the World Para Athletics Championships in the Capital. “It is a special feeling as I was getting support from the home crowd,” Shailesh said after winning the gold medal. “I wanted to attempt 1.94m but it was a little hot here today. I have been training in Bengaluru for the past seven months and came here 10 days ago so that I could adapt.” Proud of you Champ ! 🇮🇳 Heartiest congratulations to Shailesh Kumar for winning Gold in Men’s High Jump T63/42 category at #WPAC2025. pic.twitter.com/zv4ypgiV6l — Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) September 27, 2025 Shailesh, who had polio in his right leg in childhood, competes in the T42 class, which is for athletes with a lower limb impairment, and broke the championship record three times on the first day of competition at the World Championships. He crossed 1.85m and then surpassed it by going over 1.88m. His gold medal was confirmed by then but he cleared 1.91m, much to the delight of the home crowd cheering his name. Reigning Paralympic champion Ezra Frech of USA (1.85m) won the silver ahead of experienced Indian campaigner Varun Singh Bhati on countback. This is the second senior World Championships medal for Shailesh, who had won the silver at the 2023 World Championships. With Shailesh’s gold, India’s domination in the high jump T63 category continued as Mariyappan Thangavelu was the defending champion. A tough journey Back home in Bihar, sports amenities leave much to be desired, especially when Shailesh was growing up. “I come from a place where there are barely any sports facilities. I used to compete and win in competitions for able-bodied athletes before a friend suggested that I switch to Paralympic disciplines,” the 25-year-old said. “Then I met a few paralympians and researched about the sport. That is when I came to know about the classification systems and decided to give it a try.” Owing to his consistent performances at the national level, Shailesh was selected for the 2019 Junior World Para Athletics Championships and won the high jump title with a mark of 1.65m. VIDEO | Shailesh Kumar, who won the gold medal at the World Para Athletics Championships in the men's high jump T63 event at Delhi's Jawaharlal Stadium, said: "It was good, we got good support from the home ground, the atmosphere was also good. There was a bit of humidity here. I… pic.twitter.com/ebOY4Usnbm — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 27, 2025 “Then I was selected for the Gandhinagar National Centre of Excellence. I was told that I will get Rs 10,000 and also facilities to train, so I decided to go there. That was the start of my para athletics journey.” Heartbreak at Paris Shailesh was one of the main medal hopes for the Indian contingent at the 2024 Paris Paralympics after he had broken the Games record at the Asian Para Games 2023 to win the gold medal. However, he was caught in a fierce battle with reigning Paralympic champion Frech, and compatriots three-time Paralympic medallist Mariyappan and two-time medallist Sharad Kumar. Despite achieving a personal best of 1.85m, Shailesh finished fourth with Ezra, Sharad and Mariyappan taking the medals home. “I was well prepared for the Paris Paralympics but couldn’t make it to the podium. It is a big platform and happens once every four years. The big stage affected me,” he said. The agony of missing out on a medal on such a big stage did trouble Shailesh for some time. “I was demotivated after the Paralympics. Then, I went home and met my family,” he recalled. They advised him to accept reality and learn from it. “My family helped me in moving on as they said that Paralympics will keep coming.” After Paris, Shailesh took a break of two months before hitting the restart button with his coach. ”I started from zero with the help of my coach Raunak Malik. The target was to win at the World Championships since it was happening in India and I trained well for it,” he said. Competing on home turf was advantageous for Shaliesh as he didn’t have to worry about the food. “When I go to other countries, the food is different. Apart from the weather and atmosphere, what helped me was that I didn’t have to worry about what I would eat,” he said. India start with three medals It was a good start for the Indian contingent at the World Para Athletics Championships as the day one finished with one gold, one silver, and one bronze medal. While Shailesh was the headliner, Deepthi Jeevanji won the silver medal in the women's 400m T20 category. The defending champion from the 2024 edition clocked 55.16s and lost to Onder Aysel of Turkey who created new world record with a timing of 54.51s. In the men's high jump, the experienced Varun Singh Bhati crossed the 1.85m mark to win bronze and secure India's third medal of the day. Currently, India is placed fourth in the medal while China leads the chart with four medals.
