CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu para long jumper Solairaj Dharmaraj took the field in Aichi Nagoya Para Asian Games on Thursday determined to defend the gold medal he won in Hangzhou three years ago. But the competition took an unexpected turn when Japanese athlete Yuma Tamaki raised an objection about the spike that Solairaj was wearing for the men’s T44/T64 long jump event and it was halted for 20 minutes.To make matters worse, Solairaj was also asked to remove the extra nails fitted into his blade. But that couldn’t stop the 32-year-old as he put the disruptions behind him to jump 7.15 metres on his second attempt to shatter the Asian record in the T64 class.It was one of the seven gold medals that India won on the day as they rose to fourth position in the overall medals’ tally, which is being led by China.“I was initially wearing a running spike, which I had to remove. Also, only 11 nails are allowed on the blade, but as a precaution against slipping in case of rain, we had used 13. We had to remove the extra nails too,” Solairaj, a subedar in the Indian Army, told TOI.As athletes from two categories competed together, their performances were assessed using the Raza points system. Solairaj scored 807 points, while Malaysia’s Eddy Bernard finished second with 740 points after registering 6.34m in the T44 class.Solairaj has been a consistent performer for India on the international stage for a while now, but his journey has had its share of struggles. Solairaj lost his left leg due to infection in 2018, working in glaciers. Trying to deal with the trauma, he took up para athletics training at the Army Paralympic Node in Pune and won gold for India with a record jump in 2023 Para Asian Games.The athlete, who hails from Tuticorin, started practising under coach Bibin in 2024 and since has shown good improvement. “Our aim here (in Asian Para Games) was to jump 7.50m but that did not happen. There are improvements which need to be done like improving his speed. But we have to increase it gradually, else his jumping technique will get disturbed. He is on the right path, and our next aim is the World Championships in our journey to the LA Olympics,” Bibin said.
