Paris: In its best-ever performance at the Paralympics since they came into existence in 1960, India won 25 medals at Paris 2024 with five gold, nine silver, and 11 bronze, surpassing the record from Tokyo 2020, where India had won 19 medals with five gold, eight silver, and six bronze.
Led by para-athletes, the country also saw a rise in para-badminton. But if there will be one major takeaway for India from these Games, it will be the emergence of the women para-athletes. Preeti Pal won her second medal in the same edition of the Paralympics 2024 with a bronze in the Women’s 200m T35 event.
Before the Paris Paralympics, India’s women had won just four medals at the Games – one in Rio followed by three in Tokyo. Here, they equaled that tally in just one day. In Paris, there are 32 women, the highest ever, in India’s athlete contingent of 82, representing in 11 out of 12 sports – swimming is the only discipline where there are no women. This trend is in continuation of what was seen at the Asian Para Games last year, where there was at least one woman representation in 16 out of the 17 sports – the 17th, blind football, was only for men.
Harvinder Singh won the historic first-ever gold medal for India in para archery after defeating Poland’s Lukasz Ciszek in the men’s individual recurve open final to clinch his second straight medal at the Paralympic Games. India also won gold in para-badminton where shuttler Nitesh defeated Great Britain's second-seed, Daniel Bethell, to secure the top spot in the men's singles SL3 category.
Dharambir set an Asian Record of 34.92m to win another gold in the men’s club throw F51 final. Sumit Antil won a gold medal in the men’s javelin throw F64 with a Paralympic record of 70.59m. Nitesh Kumar won gold in para-badminton men’s singles SL3.
