Nagoya (Japan), 22 October 2026: Indian Army Subedar Solairaj Dharmaraj added another major title to his career by defending his Asian Para Games crown in the men’s long jump T44/T62/T64 combined event at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium during the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Games.
The 32-year-old from Tamil Nadu produced his best effort on the second attempt, clearing 7.15 metres to set a new Asian record. His series read 6.88 m, 7.15 m, 6.82 m, 6.85 m, followed by two fouls. With 807 Raza points, he finished well ahead of the field and secured gold.
Malaysia’s Eddy Bernard (T44) took silver with 6.34 m (740 points), and Japan’s Yuma Tamaki (T64) claimed bronze with a personal best of 6.89 m (726 points).
The winning jump bettered Dharmaraj’s own previous Asian record of 7.08 m, which he had set at the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi, where he placed seventh. Earlier in 2026, he had registered 7.05 m to win a combined T44/T64 event at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in New Delhi.
This was his second straight Asian Para Games gold. At the Hangzhou edition in October 2023, he won the T64 long jump with a final-round jump of 6.80 m, which stood as both an Asian and Games record at the time. On that occasion, he missed his first three attempts, managed 6.36 m on his fourth, fouled his fifth, and sealed victory with his sixth jump ahead of Sri Lanka’s Maththaka Gamage (6.68 m).
Army background and recovery
Born on 22 May 1994 in Thoothukudi (Tuticorin), Tamil Nadu, Dharmaraj serves as a Subedar in the Madras Regiment. In November 2018, while on high-altitude duty in the Kargil sector, he developed complications from a blood clot in his left leg that led to severe nerve damage. The limb turned black and swollen, and doctors had to carry out a below-knee amputation. He was treated at the Army Artificial Limb Centre in Pune.
After recovery and a period of uncertainty, he received encouragement from fellow para-athlete Naib Subedar Someswararao Ramudri. He joined the Army Paralympic Node in 2019, was fitted with a running blade, and began structured training at the Army Sports Institute in Ghorpadi, Pune. He competes using an Ossur Cheetah Xpanse carbon-fibre blade and has said he aims to reach 8 metres.
The medal contributed to India’s strong showing on Day 4 of the Games, held from 18–24 October 2026. Reports placed India’s overall tally near 88 medals, including about 21 golds, after the day’s results, with encouraging performances also coming in archery, athletics and other disciplines. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several public figures congratulated the contingent.
Dharmaraj’s rise from a 6.80 m Games record in 2023 to a new Asian mark of 7.15 m in 2026 reflects both his consistency at the continental level and the structured Army support that has helped shape his para-athletics career.
