Crippled, disabled, differently abled, specially-abled, etc. are a few of the many terms that society uses to describe those who deviate from the normal they are used to seeing. It’s an assumption that is made that if one becomes a little different as compared to how a society is used to perceive a “whole” individual then they truly can’t live a fulfilling and happy life. It is this assumption that people who society had categorised as different are forcing it to rethink with their consistent march to victory in the Paris Paralympics 2024. You guessed it right, we are talking about none other than the Indian team’s performance at the Paris Paralympics 2024 who are making billions across India to reframe their thoughts and perception towards those who may not look like an exact replica of what they conventionally consider “healthy”.
Medals Tally Paris Paralympics 2024
The Indian para-athletes have consistently proved that they don’t need to fit themselves into the tiny tick boxes that society has created that may deem them unfit as they bring honour and glory to the nation one medal at a time. Starting this streak of pride, we have Avani Lekhara who won India’s first gold medal in shooting (women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1), along with Mona Agarwal who won the bronze in the same event.
Preethi Pal carried this streak forward by winning India’s first-ever medal in track with a bronze in both the women’s 100m T35 (athletics) and the women’s 200m T35 (athletics). Manish Narwal brought a silver home with his win at the men’s 10m air pistol SH1 (shooting) and so did Rubina Francis with a bronze women’s 10m air pistol SH1 (shooting). Nishad Kumar with his silver in men’s high jump T47 (athletics) and Yogesh Kathuniya with his bronze in men’s discus throw F56 (athletics) showed a repeat of their impeccable performance at the Tokyo Games 2020.
Nitesh Kumar bagged the second gold medal for India in men’s singles SL3 (badminton) while Thulasimathi Murugesan kept the spirits high with her silver in women’s singles SU5 (badminton). Manisha Ramadass and Nithya Sre Sivan added to India’s overall medal tally by winning bronze each in women’s singles SU5 (badminton) and women’s singles SH6 (badminton) respectively. With Suhas Yathiraj’s silver in men’s singles SL4 (badminton) India bagged a total of five medals in the badminton events alone.
Sharad Kumar with a silver in men’s high jump T63 (athletics) managed to bag his second medal at the Paralympics while Mariyappan Thangavelu bagged the bronze in the same event. Becoming the youngest Indian track medalist, Deepthi Jeevanji won a bronze in the women’s 400m T20 (athletics). Rakesh Kumar along with Sheetal Devi managed to bag the bronze medal in the mixed team compound open (athletics). This win made Sheetal Devi the youngest Indian medalist to be awarded a Paralympic medal in compound archery.
Sumit Antil one of the flag bearers of the Indian flag during the opening ceremony, carried the flag with pride as he won a gold in javelin throw F64 (athletics) making it the third gold for India in the Paralympics. His win was followed up by a silver and bronze medal bagged by Ajeet Singh and Sundar Singh Gurjar respectively in men’s javelin throw F46 (athletics).
Bringing home the fifth silver medal Sachin Khilari bagged the silver medal in men’s shot put F46 (athletics). It was further followed up by Pranav Soorma who bagged the silver in men’s club throw 51 (athletics). Harvinder Singh kept the spirit of millions of Indians alive by bagging India’s first Paralympic gold in men’s individual recurve open (archery). Dharambir Nain brought the current tally of gold medals for India to five by winning a gold medal in the men’s club throw 51 (athletics). And just yesterday, i.e., 05/09/2024, India’s medal tally went up to 25 as judoka Kapil Parmar brought home the bronze medal in the men’s 60kg J1 event at the Paris Paralympics 2024.
The Reason Behind the Massive Success
Apart from the immense passion and effort put in by each athlete, according to the Business Standard, it’s the help from the government which includes an increment in the funding for the Paris Paralympics, backing up athletes with government schemes and sending in more coaches and personnel support to the Paralympics helped boost the morale and kept the athletes going. The inclusion of para-badminton last year also gave more space for athletes to showcase their talents and the recovery centre established in the Games village especially for the Indian athletes also played a crucial role in their success. Proving the notion held against people who live with disabilities wrong with each medal we just want to say that we are immensely proud of the performance of all our athletes at the Paris Paralympics 2024 and wish them all the best for the remaining days of the Paralympics.
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