Watch: Prime Miner Narendra Modi meets Paralympic athletes after horic 29-medal campaign in Paris | Sport-others News
India has regered their best Paralympics campaign at Paris 2024. They have won a record 29 medals (7 gold, 9 silver, 13 bronze) which no other Indian contingent could achieve before at the showpiece event. On Thursday the athletes reached New Delhi and met Prime Miner Narendra Modi.
Earlier Modi hailed the performance of the athletes and congratulated the players through his X account (Formerly known as Twitter). “India is overjoyed that our incredible para-athletes have brought home 29 medals, which is the best-ever performance since India’s debut at the Games.”
“This achievement is due to the unwavering dedication and indomitable spirit of our athletes. Their sporting performances have given us many moments to remember and inspired several upcoming athletes,” he further added.
India’s women step up at Paralympics
At Rio 2016 it was just one medal, as Deepa Malik won silver to become the first Indian female Paralympic medall. At Tokyo 2020, Avani Lekhara and Bhavina Patel won three medals among them.
At Paris 2024, that number multiplied more than thrice as Indian women brought home a total of 11 medals among them (including one in mixed team events). That, perhaps, is the story of India’s campaign as they finished 18th on the medal tally.
Avani Lekhara, Sheetal Devi, Thulasimathi Murugesan, Manisha Ramadass, Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan, Rubina Francis, and Mona Agarwal delivered in shooting, archery and badminton.
But one of the biggest takeaways from the Games for India were the three women who set the lavender track on fire at Stade de France. Track events horically haven’t been India’s strong suit, especially the sprints.
Before Paris, India had never won a medal in a sprint event at the Paralympics.
This time around though, three women delivered in style. Preethi Pal was India’s solitary double-medall at the Games, winning bronze in 100m and 200m T35 events.
Deepthi Jeevanji and Simran came into Paris as World Champions, and bagged bronze in 400m T20 and 200m T12 respectively as India set a new track record too.
