Paralympians achieve India’s biggest medal success as they sign off

India's Paralympians delivered an impressive performance at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, winning 29 medals, surpassing their previous record of 19 medals from the Tokyo 2021 Games. The athletics team led with 17 medals, highlighting India’s growing strength in this area. As the Games neared their end, Indian athletes celebrated their success at a local restaurant in Paris, a fitting reward after their hard work.

Notable achievements

India’s performance in Paris marked a significant improvement from Tokyo. The team, led by figures like shooter Avani Lekhara, high jumper Praveen Kumar, and javelin thrower Navdeep Singh, achieved their goal of 25 medals, surpassing it with a total of 29. They also improved their gold medal count from five in Tokyo to seven in Paris.

Athletics continued to be a strong area, contributing 17 medals. This included notable firsts like Preethi Pal’s bronze in the 100m T35 and 200m T35 events. In addition, Dharambir and Pranav Soorma achieved a historic gold-silver finish in the club throw.

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The Paralympics saw historic wins for Indian archers and judo players. Harvinder Singh became the first Indian archer to win gold, and Kapil Parmar earned India’s first judo medal with a bronze. Young talents like Sheetal Devi and Hokato Hotozhe Sema also made their mark, with Sheetal becoming the first Indian woman archer to win a medal.

Consistency and future prospects

Many athletes repeated their success from Tokyo, such as javelin thrower Sumit Antil and shooter Avani Lekhara. However, there is room for improvement in other sports. Table tennis did not win any medals this time, and badminton's gold medal count decreased.

Looking ahead to the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics, India may need to explore new sports to enhance their medal tally.