India’s Record-Breaking Performance at the Paris 2024 Paralympics

Tags: Sports

India won 29 medals – 7 gold, 9 silver, and 13 bronze – surpassing the 19-medal haul from Tokyo 2020, where they had won 5 gold medals.

An Overview of the News

• A record 84 para-athletes represented India, competing in 12 disciplines, including three new sports (para cycling, para rowing, and blind judo).

India's Historic Performances

• Avani Lekhara: Became the first Indian woman to win two Paralympic golds, defending her title in the women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 event with a world record score.

• Dharambir and Parnav Soorma: Achieved India’s first one-two finish in athletics, winning gold and silver, respectively, in the men’s club throw F51 event. Dharambir set a new Asian record with a throw of 34.92m.

• Sumit Antil: Defended his javelin F64 title with a Paralympic record throw of 70.59m, breaking his record three times during the competition.

• Praveen Kumar: Set an Asian record to win gold in the men’s high jump T64, contributing to India’s best-ever gold tally at the Paralympics.

• Mariyappan Thangavelu: Secured bronze in the men’s high jump T42 class, becoming the first Indian to win medals at three consecutive Paralympics (gold in Rio 2016, silver in Tokyo 2020).

Notable Firsts

• Preethi Pal: Won bronze in the women’s 100m T35, marking India’s first-ever medal in a Paralympic track event. She also secured a second bronze in the 200m event.

• Deepthi Jeevanji: Became the first intellectually impaired Indian athlete to win a Paralympic medal, clinching bronze in the women’s 400m T20.

Archery Achievements

• Sheetal Devi: At 17 years old, became India’s youngest Paralympic medallist, winning bronze in the mixed team compound event with Rakesh Kumar. Earlier, she briefly held a world record in the ranking round.

• Harvinder Singh: Became India’s first-ever Paralympic archery champion.