Paris Paralympics 2024: Sports in which India won its first-ever medal

India won a total of 29 medals at the Paris Paralympics 2024.

The Indian Paralympic Contingent at Paris Paralympics 2024 made the entire nation proud by winning a total of 29 medals. This was the first time the 25-medal mark was breached, eclipsing the tally of 19 medals at the Tokyo Paralympics 2020. The tally of seven gold medals is two more than the number attained at Tokyo.

A number of athletes added to their medals won at Tokyo, in Paris Paralympics 2024. The likes of Sumit Antil and Avani Lekhara added a gold medal each to their already glittering cabinets. On the other hand, a number of athletes won a medal on their Paralympic debut, while some others overcame the disappointment of below-par performances in Tokyo to secure a spot on the podium in the City of Love.

While India has traditionally dominated in a number of events, there were many events in which the nation won its first ever Paralympics medal. By doing so, the athletes have inspired others to overcome their challenges and try their hands at Para-sports, that too in disciplines which may not be popular in our country.

The highlight was Kapil Parmar’s path-breaking medal in Para judo. Apart from that, there are totally twelve events from four different sports namely Para athletics, Para badminton, Shooting Para sport and Para archery, where one or more Indians finished on the podium for the first time in Paris Paralympics 2024.

Without further ado, let’s have a look at all the events in which India won a Paralympic medal for the first time at Paris Paralympics 2024.

Para Judo (Kapil Parmar-Men’s 60kg J1)

Kapil Parmar has brought about a revolution in the sport of judo, by clinching India’s first ever Paralympic medal in the sport. The 23-year-old clinched the bronze medal in the Men’s 60kg J1 category in Paris Paralympics 2024.

The judoka started off with a 10-0 battering of Blanco Marcos of Venezuela in the quarterfinal. He, however lost to Iranian Banitaba Khoram by the same margin in the semifinal. This defeat did not deter him, as he put on a superb performance in the bronze medal match, to defeat Brazilian Elielton de Oliveira 10-0 via IPPON.

The athlete from Sehore, Madhya Pradesh, who had suffered a severe electric shock when he had come in contact with an electric pump while playing during his childhood, has had a lot of success on the international stage.

He won the bronze medal in the Birmingham World Games 2023 and silver in the Hangzhou Asian Para Games 2022. He also clinched the gold medal in the Commonwealth Championships 2019 and Alexandria Grand Prix 2023.

Para Athletics

Men’s Club Throw F51 (Dharambir Nain, Pranav Soorma)

India’s only 1-2 podium finish at Paris came in an event in which India had never medalled before: club throw. Dharambir Nain secured the gold medal, while Pranav Soorma clinched silver in the Men’s Club Throw F51 event. Dharambir broke the Asian Area Record with a throw of 34.92m, while Pranav finished second, not by much, with a throw of 34.59m.

Also Read: Paris Paralympics 2024: Dharambir Nain clinches gold, Pranav Soorma takes silver in men’s club throw F51

Men’s Javelin Throw F41 (Navdeep Singh)

Navdeep Singh, who had finished fourth at Tokyo, won the gold medal in the Men’s Javelin Throw F41 event. He broke the Paralympic record, with a throw of 47.32m. However, Iranian Sadegh Beit Sayah overtook him with a throw of 47.64m. In a dramatic turn of events later, Sadegh was disqualified due to misconduct and the Indian’s silver was upgraded to gold.

Men’s Shot Put F46 (Sachin Khilari)

Sachin Khilari won the silver medal in the Men’s Shot Put F46 event. He broke the Asian Area record with a distance of 16.32m on his second attempt. He was in tremendous form, with four of his throws crossing the 16m mark, apart from registering a 15.95m throw. However, he heartbreakingly finished 6cm behind Canadian Greg Stewart.

Women’s 100m T35 (Preethi Pal)

Preethi Pal became India’s first ever Paralympics medallist in track events, as she clinched the bronze medal in the Women’s 100m T35 event. She clocked her personal best timing of 14.21s in the final, thus finishing third in the race. China secured a 1-2 finish on the podium.

Women’s 200m T35 (Preethi Pal)

Preethi Pal followed up her bronze in the Women’s 100m T35 event, winning her second one in the 200m event. Once again, she clocked her personal best timing, finishing the race in 30.01s. Interestingly, the podiums for the 100m and 200m races were identical.

Women’s 200m T12 (Simran Sharma)

Simran Sharma, along with her guide Abhay Singh, clinched the bronze medal in the Women’s 200m T12 race, clocking a timing of 24.75s in the final. She had come first in her heat (25.41s) as well as semifinal (25.03s), to qualify for the final, where she clocked her personal best. It was sweet redemption, after she had come fourth in the 100m event.

Women’s 400m T20 (Deepthi Jeevanji)

Former World Record Holder Deepthi Jeevanji clinched the bronze medal in the Women’s 400m T20 event. She clocked a timing of 55.45s in the heat to secure first spot and qualify for the final. In the final, she clocked 55.82s to finish third in the race.

Men’s Shot Put F57 (Hokato Hotozhe Sema)

Hotozhe Sema Hokato secured the bronze medal in the Men’s Shot Put F57 event. It was a tremendous effort from the underdog, as he managed to throw his personal best distance of 14.65m. Commendably, all his six throws were above 13.80m, with four of them being measured at 14m or above.

Para Badminton

Badminton Women’s Singles SU5 (Thulasimathi Murugesan, Manisha Ramdass)

First seed Thulasimathi Murugesan clinched silver, while second seed Manisha Ramdass won the bronze medal in the Para Badminton Women’s Singles SU 5 event. Both played well until the semifinals, where they clashed against each other, with the first seed winning in two close sets.

Thulasimathi lost the final 17-21 10-21 to Chinese Yang Qiu Xia, while Manisha defeated Dane Cathrine Rosengren 21-12 21-8 in the bronze medal match.

Badminton Women’s Singles SH6 (Nithya Sre Sivan)

First seed Nithya Sre Sivan pocketed the bronze medal in the Para Badminton Women’s Singles SH6 event. After suffering a loss to Lin Shuangbao in the group stage, she demolished Pole Oliwia Szmigiel in the quarterfinal.

Nithya then suffered a second loss against the Chinese shuttler in the semifinal (13-21 19-21), before stunningly defeating Indonesian Rina Marlina 21-14 21-6 in the bronze medal match.

Para Shooting

Women’s P2 10m Air Pistol SH1 (Rubina Francis)

Rubina Francis won the bronze medal in the Women’s P2 10m Air Pistol SH1 event. After finishing sixth in the qualifiers, she put on a clutch performance in the final.

A 10.7 on the first shot in the final set the tone and Rubina stood at third spot for most durations. In fact, she did occupy the second spot towards the end, but eventually finished third with 211.1 points.

Para Archery

Mixed Team Compound Archery (Rakesh Kumar and Sheetal Devi)

The duo of Rakesh Kumar and Sheetal Devi gave India its first ever Paralympic medal in compound archery, by clinching a bronze in the mixed team event.

After a convincing win in the quarterfinal, the pair suffered a heartbreaking loss in the semifinal, with Iranian Nori Hadi scoring a 10 which just cut the line in the last set and took the match into a shootoff, where Iran won by virtue of having the arrow closest to the centre. Nevertheless, the Indians overcame the disappointment to defeat Italy 156-155 in the bronze medal match.

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