Tokyo 2020 Paralympics
India end on a high with a record 19 medals at Tokyo Paralympics
We take a look at the 19 medals which helped India finish 24th amongst all the contingents.
Avani Lekhara after winning the Paralympics gold (Source: Shooting Para Sports)
We have all been awestruck by the wonderful performances put up by our very own athletes in Tokyo. Not only have they realised their dreams to participate at the games and win a medal or two, but also managed to give the country its record-breaking medal haul, never before seen at any Paralympics. This year's total of 19 medals were much more than all the medals won by Indian Paralympians in the past editions.
The highlight of this edition has surely been the 5 gold medals that adorn the medal haul even more. These have been won by Avani Lekhara (Shooting), Sumit Antil (Athletics), Manish Narwal (Shooting), Pramod Bhagat (Badminton), and Krishna Nagar (Badminton).
The rest 14 medals including eight silver medals and six bronze. While veterans like Devendra Jhajharia and Mariyappan Thangavelu continued building on their list of Paralympics honours with a silver medal each, 19-year old Avani Lekhara and 39-year old Singhraj Adhana both bagged two medals each in their events. (A gold and a bronze for Lekhara, while a silver and a bronze for Adhana).
The athletics contingent have contributed the most number of medals in the tally (8), with Shooting(5), and Badminton (4) following closely. From Bhavina Patel's silver being the nations' first Table Tennis medal at the Paralympics and Harvinder Singh's bronze being the first-ever medal in Archery in either Olympics or Paralympics, to Suhas Yathiraj being the first IAS to win a medal at the games, the Tokyo edition has seen a host of records being made and history being written multiple times.
India's 24th place finish amongst the 162 participating contingents gives the country immense faith in the future of the sporting environment and culture. Moreover, the grit and determination shown by our Paralympians is a testament to the fact that they are equally good as our able-bodied athletes and deserve an equal amount of attention and support.
