Paralympic Fairytale: 12 Medals In 56 Years, 29 In Paris Alone; Check Past & Present

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.