New Delhi: At a time when brutal crimes, especially those against women, are hogging the headlines every day, India’s para athletes gave the country something to cheer about with a delightful showing in the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
As many as 29 of our participants, each overcoming some form of physical disability, ensured India’s most successful Paralympics campaign.
The previous best 19-medal haul of the Tokyo Paralaympics in 2021 was comfortably surpassed as India claimed 7 gold, 9 silver and 13 bronze.
It helped India occupy 18th place in the medal standings, the first time they achieved a top-20 finish.
The story of India’s rise in para sports is nothing short of extraordinary.
The country didn’t send a contingent in the first two editions of the Paralympics, in 1960 (Rome) and 1964 (Tokyo).
Indian para athletes made their Paralympics debut in the 1968 Tel Aviv Games, and won their first-ever medal (a gold) in the 1972 Heidelberg Games.
Since their debut, India managed to earn 12 medals till the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Thereafter, Indian para sportspersons made their presence felt in quite a remarkable fashion.
Of the 60 medals India have garnered in Paralympic history, a staggering 48 medals – including 13 gold – have come from the last two editions.
A month ago, India’s biggest-ever contingent of 117 athletes managed to win just 6 medals, without a gold, in Paris, thus falling short of the Tokyo tally of 6.
There’s a lesson for India’s Olympians in the Paralympic fairytale – if there’s a will there’s a way of overcoming all odds.
INDIA IN PARALYMPICS OVER THE YEARS
1968 Tel Aviv – 10 participants, 0 medal
1972 Heidelberg – 10 participants, 1 medal (gold)
1984 Stoke Mandeville/New York – 5 participants, 4 medals (2 silver, 2 bronze)
1988 Seoul – 2 participants, 0 medal
1992 Barcelona – 9 participants, 0 medal
1996 Atlanta – 9 participants, 0 medal
2000 Sydney – 4 participants, 0 medal
2004 Athens – 12 participants, 2 medals (1 gold, 1 bronze)
2008 Beijing – 5 participants, 0 medal
2012 London – 10 participants, 1 medal (silver)
2016 Rio de Janerio – 19 participants, 4 medals (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)
2020 Tokyo – 54 participants, 19 medals (5 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze)
2024 Paris – 84 participants, 29 medals (7 gold, 9 silver, 13 bronze).
INDIA’s 2024 PARALYMPIC MEDAL WINNERS
Avani Lekhara – Gold in Shooting
Mona Agarwal — Bronze in Shooting
Preethi Pal — Bronze in Athletics
Manish Narwal – Silver in Shooting
Rubina Francis – Bronze in Shooting
Preethi Pal – Bronze In Athletics
Nishad Kumar – Silver in Athletics
Yogesh Kathuniya – Siver in Athletics
Nitesh Kumar – Gold in Badminton
Thulasimathi Murugesan – Silver in Badminton
Manisha Ramadass – Bronze in Badminton
Suhas Yathiraj — Silver in Badminton
Rakesh Kumar & Sheetal Devi – Bronze in Archery
Sumit Antil – Gold in Athletics
Nithya Sre Sivan – Bronze in Badminton
Deepthi Jeevanji – Bronze in Athletics
Sharad Kumar – Silver on Athletics
Mariyappan Thangavelu – Bronze in Athletics
Ajeet Singh – Silver in Athletics
Sundar Singh Gurjar – Bronze in Athletics
Sachin Khilari – Silver in Athletics
Harvinder Singh – Gold in Archery
Dharambir – Gold in Athletics
Pranav Soorma – Silver in Athletics
Kapil Parmar – Bronze in Judo
Praveen Kumar – Good in Athletics
Hokato Hotozhe Sema – Bronze in Athletics
Simran – Bronze in Athletics
Navdeep Singh – Gold in Athletics.
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