NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi commended the Indian team for their remarkable achievement at the Paralympic Games in Paris on Sunday. He attributed their success to the athletes' "unwavering dedication and indomitable spirit."
India's contingent finished their groundbreaking Paris Paralympics journey with an impressive haul of 29 medals, comprising seven gold, nine silver, and 13 bronze. This marks the nation's highest medal count in the history of the event.
The team's exceptional performance in Paris surpassed their previous best showing at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, where they secured 19 medals, including five gold, eight silver, and six bronze.
Taking to X, PM Modi wrote, "Paralympics 2024 have been special and historical. India is overjoyed that our incredible para-athletes have brought home 29 medals, which is the best ever performance since India's debut at the Games. This achievement is due to the unwavering dedication and indomitable spirit of our athletes. Their sporting performances have given us many moments to remember and inspired several upcoming athletes. #Cheer4Bharat."
India's para-athletes achieved unprecedented success, setting new records and reaching milestones never before accomplished. The country's delegation, consisting of a record 84 athletes competing across 12 disciplines from August 28 to September 8, surpassed their previous best performance from Tokyo 2020, where they participated in nine sports.
This impressive showing allowed India to cross the 50-medal mark in the history of the competition. Additionally, Indian athletes made their debut in three new sports at the Paris Games: paracycling, para rowing, and blind judo, showcasing the nation's expanding presence in the world of para-sports.
Para-shooter Avani Lekhara made history as the first Indian woman to win two Paralympic gold medals, successfully defending her women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 title with a world record score of 249.7 points.
In para-athletics, India celebrated their first-ever one-two finish, with Dharambir and Parnav Soorma claiming gold and silver, respectively, in the men's club throw F51 event. Dharambir also set a new Asian record with a throw of 34.92 meters.
In the T64 high jump, Praveen Kumar soared to an Asian record-breaking height of 2.08 meters, securing India's sixth gold. This marked India's best-ever performance at a Paralympics, finishing with seven gold medals.
India also crowned their first archery champion across both the Olympics and Paralympics, as Harvinder Singh claimed gold in the individual recurve para-archery final, defeating Poland's Lukasz Ciszek.
Indian javelin star Sumit Antil became the first Indian male to defend a Paralympics title, winning back-to-back gold in the F64 event with a remarkable throw of 70.59 meters, setting a new Paralympic record. He shattered his own previous record, set at Tokyo 2020, three times during the competition.
In high jump, Mariyappan Thangavelu secured a bronze medal in the T42 class, earning his third Paralympic medal. He became the first Indian to win medals at three consecutive Paralympics, with a gold in Rio 2016 and a silver at Tokyo 2020.
In track events, Preethi Pal made history by winning India's first medal in a Paralympics track event, securing bronze in the women's 100m T35 race with a personal best time of 14.21. She also claimed another bronze in the T35 200m race.
Among India's four track event medalists at the 2024 Paralympics, Deepthi Jeevanji became the first intellectually impaired Indian athlete to win a Paralympic medal, earning bronze in the women's 400m T20 class.
Records came in plenty during para-archery as the inspirational archer Sheetal Devi secured a world record in the ranking round before finishing at second place, with a total of 703 points. However, she could not get that singles competition medal.
Later on, teaming up with Rakesh Kumar in the mixed team qualification event, they both went on to make another world record with a score of 1,399. The 17-year-old Sheetal went on to make history as she became the country's youngest Paralympic medalist, getting a bronze with Rakesh.
Kapil Parmar clinched a bronze medal by ousting Brazil's Elielton de Oliveira, becoming the country's first-ever Paralympic medallist in Judo.
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