India made its debut in Paralympics in the year 1968. Indian nation has sent athletes in every edition of Summer Paralympics starting from the year 1984. This is the 13th time that Indian athletes are participating in the Paralympics. For Paris Paralympics 2024, India has sent 84 athletes competing across 12 sports. India has won 3 gold medals, 7 silver medals and 10 bronze medals till now. During Paris Paralympics, on September 3, India added 5 more medals to the list which now totals to 20 medals.
Previous Record
Previously, Indian athletes had won a total of 31 medals across the Paralympics. The best record till yesterday was achieved at Tokyo Paralympics 2020. During that edition, the Indian athletes bagged 19 medals, including five gold medals, eight silver medals and six bronze medals. Yesterday, India broke their own record and Paris Paralympics 2024 is the edition with the best record as it has achieved a total of 20 medals, including three gold medals, seven silver medals and ten bronze medals.
Two Silver Medals
On the Day 6 of Paris Paralympics 2024, India bagged five more medals, including two silver medals and three bronze medals. Indian athlete Ajeet Singh Yadav won a silver medal in the category of Javelin throw F46 with a distance of 65.62 metres. Ajeet met with a train accident in December 2017, leading to loss of his left arm below the elbow. After the recovery from this accident, Ajeet decided to master in Javelin Throw, and indeed he proved himself right.
Indian athlete Sharad Kumar bagged a silver medal in High jump T63 with a distance of 1.88 metres. Sharad Kumar was infected with polio when he was two-years-old. But he did not let this come in between of his dreams and is working hard to win medals for India. He has become an inspiration for many.
Three Bronze Medals
Indian athlete Deepthi Jeevanji won a bronze medal in Women’s 400 m T20 with a timing of 55.82 seconds. Deepthi suffers from an intellectual disability, a cognitive disease that hinders the communication and adaptive skills.
Indian athlete Mariyappan Thangavelu won a bronze medal in High jump T63 with a height of 1.85 metres. Mariyappan suffers from a permanent disability in his right leg from the age of five, when a bus ran over him. He didn’t give up and turned his disability into a special ability that led him to achieve a medal for India during the world’s highest sports competition – Paralympics.
Indian athlete Sundar Singh Gurjar won a bronze medal in Javelin throw F46 with a distance of 64.96 metres. In 2015, Sundar was a victim of an accident while placing a tin shade at his friend’s house. Sundar suffered injuries in his left palm and it had to go through an amputation of left palm. He initially was a wrestler but due to this accident he chose a different sport – Javelin throw.