World No. 1, Kapil Parmar created history by becoming the first Indian to win a medal in para-judo at the Paralympic Games, securing a bronze in the men’s 60kg category at the Paris Paralympics 2024 on Thursday.
The 24-year-old judoka from Sehor, Madhya Pradesh, defeated Brazil’s Elielton de Oliveira 10-0 with an impressive Ippon in just 33 seconds.
KAPIL WINS HISTORIC BRONZE 🥉🔥
India’s first ever #ParaJudo medal at the #Paralympics
Excellent presence of mind from the world number 1⃣ Kapil Parmar to grasp the opportunity presented to him by 🇧🇷’s Elielton de Oliveira. Kapil wins thanks to an IPPON 👌🇮🇳
Score: 10-0… pic.twitter.com/Imzsop6sxj
— The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) September 5, 2024
This victory raised India’s medal tally at the Games to 25, including five gold, nine silver, and eleven bronze medals.
Parmar’s path to the podium included a 10-0 win in the quarterfinals against Venezuela’s Marco Dennis Blanco. He faced a tough 0-10 loss in the semifinals to Iran’s S. Banitaba Khorram Abadi in the J1 class, a category for athletes with no to very low visual acuity.
Competitors in this category wear red circles to indicate their need for guided assistance during matches.
The world’s top-ranked para-judo athlete had previously won silver in the same category at the 2022 Asian Games.
Parmar’s journey has been marked by personal challenges, including surviving a severe electric shock as a child that left him in a coma. He comes from Shivor, a village in Madhya Pradesh, where his father works as a taxi driver, and his sister runs a primary school.