Our paralympians need lot of support, motivation from countrymen, says Neeraj Chopra

Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra on Tuesday said that India's paralympians need a lot of support and motivation from the countrymen as they are doing a great job at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics.

In the ongoing Paralympics, the Indian contingent has so far managed to win 10 medals and para-athletes have given plenty of reasons to smile about.

"Paralympians are doing a great job. They are playing well and creating world records. They need a lot of support and motivation from the countrymen. I am training for next year's Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, and World Championships," Neeraj told reporters here in Jalandhar.

Indian men's hockey team captain Manpreet Singh, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, and Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Neeraj Chopra were also seen throwing a javelin at a function in Jalandhar, Punjab, on Tuesday.

On the sidelines of the same event, Neeraj was also seen playing hockey along with bronze medalist Indian men's hockey team players.

On Tuesday, Mariyappan Thangavelu and Sharad Kumar won silver and bronze respectively in the men's high jump final at the National Stadium in Tokyo. They were both Sport Class T42.

Mariyappan Thangavelu clinched silver after leaping the mark of 1.86m. This is his second medal at the Games, having already won a gold in Rio 2016. The Rio 2016 silver medalist, United States of America's Sam Grewe clinched gold after successfully jumping the 1.88m mark in his third attempt. Another Indian and Rio 2016 bronze medalist Varun Singh Bhati finished seventh with a season-best leap of 1.77m.

( With inputs from ANI )