Bhavikkumar Bharwad disqualified from men's 400m T47 silver after lane infringement at Asian Para Games

India's Bhavikkumar Bharwad was stripped of his silver medal in the men's 400m T47 final at the Asian Para Games at Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium on Thursday after a protest led to his disqualification for a lane infringement.

Bharwad had initially finished second behind compatriot Dilip Mahadu Gavit, who won gold in 48.27 seconds, while Bharwad crossed the line in 49.31. Following a protest over a second-lane infringement, the published results listed Bharwad as disqualified, elevating Japan's Kakeru Ishida—who had finished third in 49.58—to silver and leaving Uzbekistan's Marufjon Murodulloev and Sri Lanka's Saman Subasinghe tied for third at 50.03.

Gavit's gold in the 400m remained unchanged by the protest, denying India a double podium in the event. He had already won the men's 100m T47 final on Wednesday in 10.69 seconds, while India's Basil took silver in that race in 10.72 seconds, a time the published report identified as a new Games record.

At the 2022 Asian Para Games, Gavit won the men's 400m T47 in 49.48 seconds, a victory noted in the report as India's 100th medal at that edition of the Games. The article also states Gavit subsequently represented India at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, where he reached the final of the men's 400m T47.

The published background supplied details of Gavit's early life: he was born in Toran Dongari near Nashik and grew up in a farming family. The account says a childhood fall from a tree at about five to six years old severely injured his right arm, complications led to gangrene and an amputation below the elbow, and he began practising running on the dusty roads of his village before being identified and coached by Vaijnath Kale.

The article notes that the T47 classification covers athletes with an upper-limb deficiency or impairment affecting one arm, including those with a below-elbow or wrist amputation.

Gavit's two gold medals in Nagoya add to India's medal tally at the ongoing Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, while Bharwad's disqualification changed the final podium allocation in the men's 400m T47.