Dr. Deepa Malik Becomes APC’s First Female Sub-regional Representative for South Asia

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Dr. Deepa Malik, India’s first woman Paralympic medallist, has been appointed as the Sub-regional Representative for South Asia by the Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) at its 34th Executive Board meeting.

An Overview of the News

• This appointment raises the number of female representatives on the APC Executive Board to 5, marking the highest female representation in the board’s history.

• Kazuhiro Yagi from Japan has been appointed as the new Vice President of the APC. He is also the Deputy Secretary General of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Organizing Committee (AINAGOC), which is responsible for the Aichi Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games.

Notable Achievements of Deepa Malik:

• First Indian woman to represent the country at international level sports in her disability category (F-53).

• The first Indian paraplegic woman swimmer, biker, and car rallyist.

• Won a Silver Medal in Shotput F53 at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games with a personal best performance of 4.61 meters.

• Awards and Honors:

  • Arjuna Award (National Sports Award) in 2012.

  • Padma Shri for Sports in 2017.

  • Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in 2019.

  • Selected as the Sir Edmund Hillary Prime Minister’s Fellow for New Zealand in 2019 by then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.