Paris 2024 Paralympics Para-Athletics: Ravi Rongali finishes fifth in the men’s shot put final

India’s Paris 2024 Paralympics para-athletics journey started on a heartbreaking note as Ravi Rongali finished fifth in the men’s shot put F40 final on Sunday.

The 29-year-old para-athlete missed out on a podium finish despite registering a personal best throw of 10.63m.

Rongali, who previously won a silver medal at the 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, was a prime medal hopeful for India in his Paralympic Games debut in Paris.

However, despite giving his personal best in the final round, he had to settle for the fifth spot in a bout marked by top-quality performances from every participant. In fact, two participants registered their personal best scores, and two more registered their season’s best scores in the final.

Meanwhile, Portugal’s Miguel Monteiro won the event with a new Paralympic record score of 11.21m. Mongolia’s Battulga Tsegmid registered a personal best score of 11.09m to take home the silver medal, while 2022 Asian Para Games gold medalist Garrah Tnaiash of Iraq won the bronze medal with a throw of 11.03m.

Paris 2024 Paralympics Para-Athletics Men’s Shot Put F40 Final Full Result

Miguel Monteiro (Portugal) – 11.21 PR
Battulga Tsegmid (Mongolia) – 11.09 PB
Garrah Tnaiash (Iraq) – 11.03
Denis Gnezdilov (Neutral Paralympic Athletes) – 10.80
Ravi Rongali (India) – 10.63 PB
Yannis Fischer (Germany) – 10.56
Matija Sloup (Croatia) – 10.25 SB
Wang Wei (People's Republic of China) – 9.90 SB
Muhammad Diroy Noordin (Singapore) – 8.68

Paris 2024 Paralympics Para-Athletics: How did Indian para-athletes fare on Day 4?

Other than the heartbreaking result for Ravi Rongali, India’s misery in the Paris 2024 Paralympics para-athletics continued as Rakshita Raju finished in the last position in her heat in the women’s 1500m T11 qualification round.

The 23-year-old para-sprinter registered a timing of 5:29.92, which was some way off heat winner He Shanshan of China, who registered a timing of 4:44.66.

The result meant that Rakshita would not progress through to the final round, as only the first in each heat and the next three fastest runners secure qualification. Rakshita would be disappointed with the results, as the 2022 Asian Para Games gold medalist was expected to compete for a podium finish, but failed to clear even the qualification round.