Paralympics 2024: Medal galore, heartbreaks and other highlights from Day 5

The fifth day of the 2024 Paralympics proved to be the best day for the Indian contingent with a total of eight medals across three sports.

India won a total of two gold medals, three silver, and three bronze to jump to the 15th place in the medals tally with a total of 15 medals.

Sumit Antil broke the Paralympic record twice to defend his title in the men's javelin throw F64 event while Nitesh Kumar defeated Daniel Bethell in the men's singles SL3 badminton category to win his first Paralympics gold medal.

Here is how the fifth day unfolded for the Indian contingent

Para-Badminton

On the last day of the badminton events at the Paralympics, India ended the campaign with a total of five medals, surpassing their tally from the Tokyo Paralympics.

While Nitesh Kumar clinched the gold medal in the men's SL3, Tokyo silver medalist Suhas Yathiraj added one more silver to his cabinet after going down to home favorite Lucas Mazur in the men's SL4 9-21, 13-21.

Thulasimathi Murugesan and Manisha Ramadass won the silver and bronze medals in the women's singles SU5 to become the first Indian women to win the medals in para-badminton at the Paralympics.

Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan was the fifth and final medalist of the day as she won a bronze medal in the women's singles SH6 category.

Sukant Kadam (SL4) and Sivarajan Solaimalai-Nithya Sre Sivan (mixed doubles SH6) lost their bronze medal playoff matches resulting in two fourth-place finishes for India.

Para-Athletics

India's golden boy in para-javelin, Sumit Antil broke the Paralympic record twice to clinch his consecutive gold medals in the men's Javelin Throw F64 category.

Other throwers in the event, Sandeep and Sanjay finished fourth and seventh respectively.

Yogesh Kathuniya also won his second consecutive medal at the Paralympics 2024 with a silver in the men's discus throw F56 with a season-best throw of 42.22m.

In women's discus throw F53, Kanchan Lakhani recorded her personal best of 10.06m and finished seventh in the event.

Para Archery

The redemption arc for Para Archers Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar reached its end as the duo won the bronze medal match in the mixed team event to win India's first medal in para-archery.

Earlier, they lost in a heartbreaking shootout to Iran's Fatemeh Hemmati and Hadi Nori in the semis.

Para Shooting

Nihal Singh & Amir Ahmad Bhat bowed out of the Mixed 25m Pistol Qualifications ( Precision & Rapid) after finishing 10th & 11th respectively.

While Amir Ahmad finished with a score of 568, Nihal shot a 569.