Indian Para-Cycling Squad at Paralympics 2024: Schedule, Medal chances

India will be competing in three new sports at the 2024 Paris Paralympics and para-cycling is one of them. The team feature two para-athletes - one man and one woman.

However, para-cycling has been a constant part of the Paralympics since the 1984 New York Paralympics. Starting with only seven events on the road, para-cycling has grown into the third-largest medal event in the Paralympics with 51 medals on offer on both road and track events. 

Only para-athletics with 164 events and para-swimming with 141 events are ahead of para-cycling.

Para-cycling events are traditionally dominated by the Aussies and the Britons. The two countries won more than 30 per cent of the total gold medals. 

Para-Cycling at the Paris Paralympics

The para-cycling will begin on August 29 at the Velodrome de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, the same venue that was used for the recently concluded Paris Olympics.

The road events are scheduled to commence on September 4 and go till September 7. 

Paris will draw 220 para-cyclists competing in the 51 events - 39 for men, 20 for women, and two for mixed - from 50 delegations.

Great Britain will have the highest number of participants with 17 athletes competing in different events, followed by France (15).

India will make their debut in para-cycling at the Paris Paralympics. India won two quota places for the first time in the history of the Paralympics. 

Indian para-cyclists at Paris Paralympics

Arshad Shaik and Jyoti Gaderiya are the two Indian para-cyclists who have clinched the quota places in road and track events.

Both the athletes clinched the quota places through their rankings and qualified automatically for the Paris Olympics. The list of qualified athletes was published by the Union Cycliste Internationale.

Arshad, the para-cycling sensation from Andhra Pradesh, rose to the fifth position in the world rankings in the elite men’s C2 category and will be taking part in the road (Men’s time trial C2, Men’s road race C1-3) and track (Men’s 1000m time trial C1-3, Men’s 3000m pursuit C2) events. 

Arshad put up an incredible show at the Asian Track Para-cycling Championships in 2024 clinching multiple gold medals.

The other Indian in contention is World No. 2 Jyoti Gaderiya, who clinched four gold medals at the same Asian Track Para-cycling Championships.

Jyoti will be seen in four events during the Paralympics. On the road, She’ll be cycling in the Women's C1-3 Road Race and Women’s time trial C1-C3, and in the track - Women's C1-3 500m Time Trial, Women's C1-3 3000m Individual Pursuit.

Medal Chances  

Both Arshad and Jyoti enjoyed a marvellous Asian Para-Cycling Championships which recently concluded in New Delhi, clinching multiple gold medals. 

While Arshad is ranked 5th in the world, Jyoti is second in the world. 

In the track events, both the para-cyclists will go through a qualification round, and the top four are eligible to vie for the medals in the 3000m individual pursuits.

Jyoti will hope to skip the reigning Paralympic champion Wangwei Qian from China and the world record holder Britisher Daphne Schrager. Arshad will keep an eye on the timings of the world record holder French Alexandre Leaute. 

If the Indians clock their best timings and sweep past their personal bests, India will have a strong chance of winning medals.

India’s Schedule for Para-Cycling:

All the timings are in Indian Standard Time (IST)

August 29

16:25: Women's C1-3 3000m Individual Pursuit Qualifying - Jyoti Gaderiya.

19:54: Women's C1-3 3000m Individual Pursuit Final - Bronze ( subject to qualification)

20:11: Women's C1-3 3000m Individual Pursuit Final - Gold ( subject to qualification)

August 30

16:24: Men's C2 3000m Individual Pursuit Qualifying - Arshad Shaik

19:11: Men's C2 3000m Individual Pursuit Final - Bronze ( subject to qualification )

19:19:Men's C2 3000m Individual Pursuit Final - Gold ( subject to qualification )

August 31

13:30: Women's C1-3 500m Time Trial - Qualifying - Jyoti Gaderiya

13:49: Men's C1-3 1000m Time Trial - Qualifying - Arshad Shaik

17:05: Women's C1-3 500m Time Trial - Final ( subject to qualification)

17:32: Men's C1-3 1000m Time Trial - Final ( subject to qualification)

September 4

12:00: Men’s time trial C2 Final, Women’s time trial C1-C3 Final

September 7

13:00: Women's C1-3 Road Race Final, Men's C1-3 Road Race Final