The Paris 2024 Paralympics is scheduled to take place in the French capital from August 28 to September 8.
India will be sending its biggest contingent ever in the history of the Games, with 84 athletes (52 men and 32 women), a vast improvement from the 54 that took part in the previous edition.
Since the formation of the Games, India has won a total of 31 medals, with the first ever medal coming in 1972 – in Heidelberg, West Germany – through Murlikant Petkar, who clinched the gold medal in the men’s 50-meter freestyle 3 category.
Tokyo Paralympics 2020 was India’s best performance in the history of the games as it finished with 19 medals—five gold, eight silver, and six bronze – finishing 24th on the medal table.
Shooting brought five medals, followed by high jump and badminton with four each.
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Avani Lekhara became the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold medal when she won the women’s 10m air rifle shooting standing SH1.
Among other history-makers were Sumit Antil who won gold in the men’s javelin F64/44 final with a then-world record throw of 68.55m, Bhavina Patel who became the first Indian table tennis player to win a Paralympic medal and Harvinder Singh who also claimed India’s first Paralympic medal in archery.
India’s medal tally at Tokyo 2020 Paralympics
GOLD – 5
SILVER – 8
BRONZE – 6
FINAL POSITION – 24
