India's Solairaj Retains Asian Para Games Long Jump Title

India's Dharamraj Solairaj has retained his Asian Para Games long jump title, winning gold on Thursday at the 2026 edition in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, with a record-breaking leap of 7.15 metres.

The Tamil Nadu native secured victory in the men's combined T44/T62/T64 final at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletics Stadium. His second-attempt jump not only won the gold but also established a new Asian record, marking his second straight continental multi-sport gold.

Solairaj's competition began with a 6.88-metre effort. In the second round he reached 7.15 metres, and his later jumps of 6.82 metres and 6.85 metres were not enough to top that mark. He also registered two fouls in his final attempts, but his opening record leap decided the result.

In the standings, Malaysia's Edy Bernard finished second with 740 Raza points after a T44 best of 6.34 metres. Japan's Yuma Tamaki took bronze with 726 points, boosted by a personal best of 6.89 metres in the T64 category.

The Raza points system used in the combined event compares athletes across classifications by measuring performance relative to impairment category. Solairaj led the table with 807 points.

The result builds on a strong run for the Indian athlete. He won the Hangzhou Asian Para Games title in October 2023 with 6.80 metres, which was then an Asian record. At the World Para Athletics Championships 2025 in New Delhi, he finished seventh but improved the continental record to 7.08 metres.

Earlier in 2026, he had also won the T44/T64 combined long jump at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in New Delhi with 7.05 metres, a clear indication of his form before the Nagoya Games.