Shailesh Kumar

Shailesh Kumar (born 8 August 2000) is an Indian para-athlete who specializes in high jump. He won the gold medal at the 2022 Asian Para Games and the 2025 World Championships in the men's high jump T63 event. Kumar also represented India at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, where he narrowly missed the podium with a fourth-place finish in the same event.

Early life and background Kumar hails from Islamnagar in Aliganj block, Jamui district, Bihar. In T63 classification, athletes with a single leg above the knee amputation compete with a prosthesis.

Early life and education Kumar was born to Pratima Devi and Shivnandan Yadav and has two brothers. He did his graduation in Mathematics. He is currently being supported by Olympic Gold Quest, a sports NGO.

Career He also represented India at the World Para Athletics Championships at Paris in July 2023 and won a silver medal. He qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics. He won the National Championship at Bhubaneswar in March 2022.

He also broke the nine-year-old Asian Para Games record of 1.80m set by Paralympics medalist Sharad Kumar in 2014. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Kumar for winning the gold medal. He is currently serving as a Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) in the State of Bihar.