Mumbai: Hours ahead of the closing ceremony on Sunday, a large group from among India’s Paralympians still around in Paris treated themselves to a meal at an Indian restaurant. It was well earned, coming as it did after putting together a flurry of days of scripting an Indian high in Paris.
If the Tokyo Paralympics of 2021 signalled an intent for India to make a mark in the pinnacle of para sports, the Paris Paralympics of 2024 stamped a statement of scaling new peaks. Gone are the days of the one- and four-medal Indian presence of the last decade at the Paralympics. India are now punching well into double-digit medals while comfortably knocking down their previous count.
India’s 19-medal show in Tokyo sparked an unseen interest and push for Paralympic sports in the country. Paris, in that sense, was a litmus test on whether it could translate into a more glowing recognition of India’s evolving prowess in it.
The bar, certainly among those within the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) which now has three-time Paralympic medallist Devendra Jhajharia at the helm, was kept at 25. India’s Paralympians scaled that — with the poise of shooter Avani Lekhara, efficiency of high jumper Praveen Kumar and vigour of javelin thrower Navdeep Singh — to land at 29 medals. Not only has the contingent bettered the overall tally from Tokyo but, perhaps more importantly, also the gold medal count (7 from 5).
Athletics takes the cream
Like in Tokyo, athletics accounted for a large chunk of India’s sweet medal cake. It has delivered 17 of the 29 medals, and four of the seven top finishes. Even there, though, there are notable firsts.
India had a history of producing Paralympic medallists in field events but in Paris, a few from the country lit up the Stade de France track as well. Preethi Pal’s 100m T35 bronze was a welcome first, and it didn’t stop there. Preethi herself backed it up with another bronze in the 200m (T35), with Simran Sharma joining her as a third-place finisher in the 200m T12 event.
Javelin throw and jumps have traditionally been India’s stronger suits at the Paralympics. In Paris, club throwers Dharambir and Pranav Soorma delivered a historic gold-silver finish for the country.
Archery, judo and first-timers
Archery and India at any global multi-sport events have often been a tale of heartbreaks and disappointments. At the Paris Paralympics, there were still a few nearly-there misses but also some significant hits. Like Harvinder Singh becoming the first Indian archer to bring home a gold, and doing so in recurve battling several testing moments. Like Sheetal Devi going where no Indian woman archer had gone before — on the podium, in the company of Rakesh Kumar with the mixed team compound bronze — and doing so after overcoming the lull of not going deep in her individual event.
Also opening new doors in India’s Paralympic history was Kapil Parmar, as the first Indian ever to win a medal in judo with his bronze.
At 17, Sheetal hogged the spotlight among India’s first-timers at the Paralympics. There were others who also shone. At 40, Hokato Hotozhe Sema had a memorable debut with his shot put (F57) bronze. Nitesh Kumar (gold), Thulasimathi Murugesan (silver) and Manisha Ramadass (bronze) gave badminton’s medal count a big push in their first ever taste of the biggest stage.
Repeaters to the fore
As many as 11 Indians doubled up their medals of Tokyo with another one in Paris (and tripled, in the case of Mariyappan Thangavelu). Leading this bunch of consistent performers were two of the more prominent Paralympian figures in the country out to defend their crowns. Javelin thrower Sumit Antil did so with minimum fuss, once again underlining the world record holder’s status as the best in the business in his F64 category. Shooter Avani had a more dramatic defence, and the 22-year-old showed maturity in holding her nerve and class in bringing back the gold in the 10m air rifle SH1 category.
A few among the Tokyo-Paris medallists improved their medal colour: Praveen (high jump, silver to gold), Harvinder (archery, bronze to gold), Sharad Kumar (high jump, bronze to silver). Some, like shuttler Suhas Yathiraj and high jumper Nishad Kumar and discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya, kept their silver.
However, in a reflection of the country’s Paralympians aiming for more in the future, some were not even content with the silver lining.
“I have to break this trend and change the silver medal into gold medal,” Kathuniya said.
Room for improvement
Despite India’s wider pool of medals and bigger push in the medals table order, there could be room for improvement. Table tennis, which accounted among the medals in Tokyo, delivered a blank in Paris. Badminton went up from four to five in the overall medals, but down from two to one in the gold count.
India could also perhaps look at other sports to tap into, keeping the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics in mind. For instance, India had just one representation in swimming, from where a bulk of leaders China’s 220 medals came.
