CWG 2026 Day 5: Sharmila Dhankar wins India’s first ever Para-Athletics gold, headlines six medals

ByTech Word News

NEW DELHI: India enjoyed one of its best days at the Commonwealth Games on Monday with a total of six medals, with Sharmila Dhankar making history after becoming the country’s first ever para-athletics gold medallist. On the fifth day of the event, she won the women’s F57 shot put title with a season’s best throw of 9.81m, ending India’s 20-year wait for a para-athletics medal at the Games. Category F57 is intended for athletes with disabilities of the lower limbs, lack of limbs or reduced muscle strength. Shilpa K. Shyla won bronze in women’s shot put F57.The celebrations continued in athletics, with Sarvesh Kushare becoming the first Indian to win a silver medal in the men’s high jump. The national record holder cleared 2.25m and narrowly missed out on the gold in the countdown after tying with Jamaica’s Romaine Beckford. Adarsh ​​Ram finished fifth while Tejaswin Shankar withdrew before the decathlon as a precaution.

Weightlifters keep medal ride alive

Weightlifting delivered again for India. Valluri Ajaya Babu won silver in the men’s 79kg event after finishing just one kilogram behind Malaysia’s Erry Hidayat Muhammad in a thrilling contest. Gyaneshwari Yadav also won silver in the women’s 53kg category with career-best lifts, while Bindyarani Devi added a bronze in the 58kg category, taking India’s weightlifting medal tally to six.

Boxers advance, mixed luck elsewhere

Indian boxing also had a productive day as Sachin Siwach, Ankush and Sakshi Chaudhary progressed to the quarter-finals with convincing wins, although Sumit retired after a narrow defeat.There was also disappointment. Sprinter Gurindervir Singh failed to qualify for the 100m semi-finals, while hurdler Tejas Shirse finished last in the 110m hurdles final after competing with an injury. “I sustained a navicular stress fracture in my left leg in the warm-up. I didn’t want to pull it out, so I told my physio to tape it up,” Shirse told news agency PTI. “I am the first Indian to qualify for the 110m hurdles final in the CWG, so I didn’t want to disappoint the entire nation (by pulling out),” he added. Swimming also saw little success, with Sajan Prakash, Aryan Nehra and para-swimmer Swatik Patil finishing out of the medals.