Pal finished third in the final with a personal best timing of 30.01 seconds to win her second medal in the Paris Games after collecting bronze in the 100m T35 event on Friday.
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Sprinter Preethi Pal continued her superb run in the Paris Paralympics by winning bronze in the women’s 200-metre T35 event on Sunday.

Pal finished third in the final with a personal best timing of 30.01 seconds to win her second medal in the Paris Games after collecting bronze in the 100m T35 event on Friday.

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Not only is it India’s second track and field medal in the ongoing Paralympic Games, both coming from the same athlete, but is also the country’s sixth overall.

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China completed a one-two in the event with Xia Zhou and Qianqian Guo winning gold and silver respectively.

The 23-year-old Preethi also became only the second Indian woman to win two medals — both bronze — in a single Paralympics after shooter Avani Lekhara who won a gold and a bronze in Tokyo three years ago.

The bronze won by the 23-year-old Preethi was also India’s second para-athletics medal in the Paris Paralympics.

World record holder and Tokyo Paralympics champion Xia of China won the gold with a time of 28.15 while compatriot Guo (29.09 seconds) took the silver.

T35 classification is meant for athletes who have coordination impairments such as hypertonia, ataxia and athetosis.

On Friday, Preethi, a farmer’s daughter from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, had clinched India’s first athletics medal in a Paralympics track event, winning a bronze in the women’s T35 100m competition with a personal best time of 14.21 seconds.

All the athletics medals India had won since the 1984 edition of the Paralympics have come from the field events.

In fact, the only other Indian woman track and field medallist in Paralympics is former Paralympic Committee of India president Deepa Malik who won a silver in shot put — a field event — F53 category in 2016 Rio Games.

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Preethi faced significant physical challenges when she was born as her lower body was plastered for six days after birth. Weak legs and an irregular leg posture made her prone to various diseases.

She underwent various traditional treatments to strengthen her legs, including wearing calipers for eight years from the age of five.

At 17, Preethi’s perspective began to change when she watched the Paralympic Games on social media. But her life-changing moment came when she met Paralympic athlete Fatima Khatoon, who introduced her to para-athletics.

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With Fatima’s support, Preethi competed in the state championships and national events from 2018 onwards. She qualified for the Asian Para Games last year in China, where she finished fourth in both the 100m and 200m sprints.

She moved to Delhi to train under coach Gajender Singh and fine-tuned her running techniques, leading to her winning a bronze medal each in 100m and 200m in World Para Athletics Championships.

She also received out of pocket allowance under Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) of the government and other financial assistance for training and competition.

_With PTI inputs
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