Special Olympics World Games: Telangana swimmer Siddhanth clinches bronze in 25 metre freestyle event

The 17-year-old Siddhanth Murali Kumar became the first from Telangana to win a medal at the Special Olympics World Games

Hyderabad: Telangana swimmer Siddhanth Murali Kumar, competing in the Special Olympics World Summer Games, clinched a bronze medal with a timing of 30.57 seconds in the 25 metre freestyle event in Berlin, Germany on Wednesday.

The 17-year-old thus became the first from the State to win a medal at the Special Olympics World Games. Siddhanth trains at the Gachibowli Stadium Swimming Pool, run by Sports Authority of Telangana State, under coach Ayush Yadav, who is also the India head coach in the ongoing teams. Syria’s Diab Bahaa, with a timing of 28.63 seconds, took the gold while Portugal’s Rodriguez Ricardo took silver with 29.73 seconds.

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Meanwhile, India registered their first gold medals at the Special Olympics with Geetanjali Nagvekar winning gold in the 800m Level C, to start, what would be a gold rush Tuesday, with as many three added by the end of the day’s action.

Geetanjali ran a time of 4:31:40, almost eight seconds ahead of her competitor in second place to put India on the board early. Not long after, India added a silver in the male 800m. In the pool, Dinesh Shanmugam continued his form from the day prior to bring home a silver in the male 50m breaststroke, Level A, clocking a time of 46.59 to do so. Late in the day, Madhav also confirmed a gold medal for the Indian contingent in Swimming in the 25M Breaststroke event. The real highlight though, came from the roller-skating rink, Indian athletes bringing eight medals (2 golds, 2 silver and 4 bronze) through the day.