Para Sports
World Para Athletics Grand Prix 2025: India tops medal tally with 134 medals
The hosts finished ahead of the Neutral Para Athletes contingent and Uzbekistan.
Preeti Pal, competing in women’s 200m T35–T38 event, added another medal to her name by winning bronze. (Photo credit: Special arrangement)
New Delhi: The Indian para athletes delivered an exceptional performance by topping the medals table on the final day of the World Para Athletics Grand Prix here on Thursday.
India finished with a stunning 134 medals including 45 gold, 40 silver, and 49 bronze, ahead of Neutral Para Athletes contingent and Uzbekistan.
Australia's Vanessa Low, several Indians including Preeti Pal, Ravi Rangoli and Sagar lived up to their billing on the final day.
Podium sweep for India
Preeti, competing in women’s 200m T35–T38 event, added another medal to her name by winning bronze. Australia’s Rhiannon Clarke clinched gold and Margarita Goncharova from the Neutral Para Athletes contingent took silver. She had earlier won a silver in 100m.
In another memorable moment for the host nation, Sagar (11.47 meters), Janka Singh (9.91 meters) and and Balaji Rajendran (9.89 meters) achieved a podium sweep in the men’s Shot Put F11–F20 category.
Legendary Australian athlete Vanessa Low soared to gold in the Women’s Long Jump T38, T44, T61 with an impressive leap of 4.96 meters.
Zhanana Fekolina and India’s Bhavani Munniyandi settled for silver and bronze, respectively.
In the Men’s Shot Put F40–F41, Denis Gnezdilov of the Neutral Para Athletes took gold, followed by Aiaal Sivtsev with silver, while India’s Ravi Rangoli secured bronze.
In the women’s Long Jump T20–T37, Irina Sapanzha won gold with a leap of 5.35 meters, while Valentina took silver at 5.16 meters and India’s Bhuvi Agarwal secured bronze with 4.16 meters.
The Men’s 200m T35 event saw Dmitrii Safronov of the Neutral Para Athletes take gold with a time of 24.20 seconds. India’s Vinay won silver in 29.58 seconds, and Abhishek Babasaheb Jadhav claimed bronze with 31.55 seconds. In the Men’s 200m T37, the Neutral Para Athletes displayed exceptional sprinting prowess with a clean sweep of the podium.
In the Men’s Shot Put F33–F34 event, Sarvarbek and Husan of Uzbekistan won gold and bronze respectively, while India’s Devershee earned silver.
The Men’s 200m T44 saw India’s Mit Bharatbhai Patel clinch silver with a timing of 26.68 seconds, while Ankur also secured a silver medal in his classification with a time of 31.23 seconds. In the Men’s 200m T61–T64, Japan’s Yuma Tamaki claimed gold with a throw of 24.16 meters, while India’s Pranav Prashant secured silver with 24.75 meters and Naresh won bronze.
India’s dominance continued with another clean sweep in the women’s Discus Throw F56–F57, where Fatima, Suman Bala, and Asha Jalandar brought home gold, silver, and bronze respectively. In the Men’s Shot Put F35–F37, Kudratillokhon of Uzbekistan claimed gold with a throw of 14.89 meters, Alan Kokoity won silver with 14.68 meters, and Albert from the Neutral Para Athletes secured bronze.
India concluded the event on a glorious note with another podium sweep in the Men’s 5000m T11–T12 event, as Sharath bagged gold, Saurabh claimed silver, and Ankur took home bronze.
Pathway for growth
Martin Chorley, World Para Athletics Competitions Senior Manager, complimented the hosts for organising the Grand Prix in such a short period of time.
“It's fantastic what the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) has achieved in such a short space of time. The contracts for this Grand Prix were only awarded in December last year. And to deliver to our level in just two months gives me confidence moving forward for the World Championships in September that the PCI is competent and can deliver a good event,” Martin Chorley, World Para Athletics Competitions Senior Manager, said.
#NEWS | In what is a boost for Para-Athletics in India, the New Delhi World Para Athletics Grand Prix will be an annual event.
— The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) March 13, 2025
👉According to World Para Athletics Competitions Senior Manager Martin Chorley, 🇮🇳India has signed a multi-year agreement for the Paralympic cycle (till… pic.twitter.com/L8uQjdy2mf
Also, in what is a boost for Para-Athletics in India, the New Delhi World Para Athletics Grand Prix will now be an annual event.
According to World Para Athletics Competitions Senior Manager Martin Chorley, ndia has signed a multi-year agreement for the Paralympic cycle (till the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics).
"They (India) have signed a multi-year agreement with us for the Paralympic cycle (till 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics). So we've got a new Delhi Grand Prix for four years," World Para Athletics Competitions senior manager Martin Chorley told PTI in an interview.
