India delivered their most successful performance in Paralympic history at the Paris 2024 Games, securing an impressive total of 29 medals—seven gold, nine silver, and 13 bronze.
This remarkable achievement surpasses the 19-medal tally from the Tokyo 2020 Games, which included five gold medals.
This record haul also pushed India past the 50-medal milestone in their Paralympic history.
A historic 84 para-athletes represented India at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, held from August 28 to September 8. Competing in 12 disciplines—three more than in Tokyo 2020—India’s para-athletes also participated in three new sports: para cycling, para rowing, and blind judo.
Among the standout performances:
Avani Lekhara became the first Indian woman to win two Paralympic gold medals, successfully defending her title in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 event with a world record score.
In athletics, Dharambir and Parnav Soorma achieved India’s first-ever one-two finish in the men’s club throw F51 event, securing gold and silver, respectively. Dharambir set a new Asian record of 34.92m. Praveen Kumar also broke an Asian record to win the high jump T64 title, earning India's sixth gold in Paris, the highest ever for the nation at a single Paralympic Games.
Sumit Antil, the javelin champion, made history as the first Indian man to defend his Paralympic title, winning gold in the men's javelin throw F64 with a new Paralympic record of 70.59m. Incredibly, he broke his own record, set at the Tokyo 2020 Games, three times during the competition.
Mariyappan Thangavelu became the first Indian to win medals at three consecutive Paralympics, adding a bronze in the high jump T42 event to his collection, after his gold in Rio 2016 and silver in Tokyo 2020.
Preethi Pal earned a historic bronze in the women’s 100m T35 race with a personal best time, marking India's first-ever Paralympic track event medal. India won a total of four track medals in Paris, including Deepthi Jeevanji's bronze in the women’s 400m T20 class, making her the first intellectually impaired Indian athlete to win a Paralympic medal.
In archery, Sheetal Devi, an armless archer, briefly set a world record in the ranking round before winning silver. She also teamed up with Rakesh Kumar to set a world record in the compound mixed team qualification event. At just 17, Sheetal became India’s youngest Paralympic medallist, securing bronze in the mixed team event alongside Rakesh.
India also celebrated its first Paralympic archery champion when Harvinder Singh claimed gold, further cementing the country’s dominance at the Games.
These victories and records highlight India's growing presence and success on the global Paralympic stage.
0 Comments