From winning its first-ever medal at the Paralympic Games back in 1972 through Murlikant Petkar’s historic gold in swimming to grabbing a record 29 medals in the last edition at Paris earlier this year, India have come a long way in the Paralympics scene. The systematic and gradual growth of para-sports in India is a success story in itself. And double Olympic champion, Sumit Antil is one of the flag bearers of this change. After their debut at the 1968 Paralympic Games and winning their first medal in 1972, India missed the next two events in 1976 and 1980. Since making a comeback at the Paralympics in 1984, India have participated in every edition of the Games, but their biggest success came in Paris, where it bettered an outstanding show in Tokyo (19) with 10 more medals.

Sumit, who won gold in the men’s javelin F64 event in Tokyo 2020 and then defended his title in Paris, said education and awareness have been the biggest factors behind India’s growth in the Paralympics.

“In Rio, we had 4 medals. Tokyo was 19 and in Paris we won 29. Athletes are working hard. Education and awareness are important. I myself didn’t know what para-sports was. But with the help of awareness and social media, this will grow – to identify raw talent and shape them up. The federation and the government have played their part in it too. Young people come up to me and say ‘we want to win a gold medal’, break world records like you. But one thing I would like to point out is that we need find more athletes in other sports. Swimming presents so many opportunities. If we can popularise such sports, it will go a long way. Another factor is the crowd. We need to fill stadiums,” said the six-time world record holder during HTLS 2024.

Sumit, the Paralympic and world record holder, said it is important to find a reason to live and para-sports gave him that after an unfortunate accident. “I believe that when you’re playing para sports, you are giving someone a reason to live. When I had my accident, I didn’t have people to look up to. When someone goes through a life-altering experience at a young age, many tend to give up their dreams, feel their life is over. But today, I get messages saying, ‘You are the reason I continue to dream’; it gives me happiness,” he said.

Shooter Swapnil dreams of gold medal

Shooter Swapnil Kusale, who created history by winning India’s first-ever Olympic medal in the 50m rifle 3 positions event in Paris, said he relishes the challenge the discipline demands.

“Shooting was never a passion as such. I liked it, so I took it up. But later I realised that winning a medal at the Olympics is a huge deal. That spiked my interest spurred me to continue with dedication,” he said.

“50m 3 positions obviously has a lot of challenges. It’s slightly tougher than pistol and air rifle. The range is open and there are factors like wind etc. But that’s what makes it exciting. And even the bullets are real. All these things helped catch my interest,” he added.

The man from Kohlapur stressed the factor of physical fitness in shooting. “In shooting, athletes keep changing at every level. But like in any other sport, physical fitness also matters in shooting. A lot of muscles need work. Shooters today are paying more attention to it. Of course, technical skills are important too, but we are able to get more medals now because shooters today are equally concerned about their physical fitness. This makes me believe that we can get more medals in shooting at the next Olympics.”