India at the Paralympics
Indian sports lover has new interest and hope from Paralympian. Olympic we have moved from Hockey and started looking forward to other games. In Tokyo 2024 Paralympic , Indian para athlete performed so well that we all are waiting for Summer Paralympics at Paris which will unfold from 28 August 2024.
1960 was first Paralympic Games held at Rome. India did not participated in 1960 and 1964 Paralympic games.
India made its Summer Paralympic debut in 1968 at Tel Aviv. Indian paraathlete of 10 member participated in their inaugural Paralympic. In 1972 Paralympic at Heidelberg got its first Medal and it was Gold by Murlikant Petkar in swimming .
India did not participated in 1976 and 1980 . In 1984 India send 5 member team and got 2 Silver and 2 Bronze. Since than India were empty handed 2000 Paralympic.
In 2004 at Athens , India 12 member team bagged 1 Gold and 1 Bronze. In London Paralympic 0f 2012 ,we reieved a Silver . In 2016 Rio de Janerio , Indian had largest contingent of 19 Parathlete and bagged 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze , best performance till then. In 2020 , Tokyo Indian contingent was largest ever with 54 parathlete and result were more heartening with 5 Gold , 8 Silver and 6 Bronze.
India reformed the Parathlete sports with Khelo India and athlete are ready to participate in Paris Olympic with its largest contingent of 85 Parathlete.
India’s Performance at Paralympic Games since its inception
| Year | Venue | Athlete | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Rank |
| 1960 | Rome | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1964 | Tokyo | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1968 | Tel Aviv | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1972 | Heidelberg | 10 | 1 *Murlikant Petkar | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25 |
| 1976 | Toronto | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1980 | Arnhem | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1984 | Stoke/Mandeville/ New York | 5 | 0 | 2 *Bhimrao Kesarkar *Joginder Singh Bedi | 2 *J S Bedi *J S Bedi | 4 | 37 |
| 1988 | Seol | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1992 | Barcelona | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1996 | Atlanta | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2000 | Sydney | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2004 | Athens | 12 | 1 Devendra Jhajharia | 0 | 1 Rajinder Singh Rahelu | 2 | 53 |
| 2008 | Beijing | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2012 | London | 10 | 0 | 1 Girisha Nagarajegowda | 0 | 1 | 67 |
| 2016 | Rio de Janeiro | 19 | 2 Mariyappan Thangavelu | 1 *Deepa Malik | 1 Varun Singh Bhati | 4 | 43 |
| 2020 | Tokyo | 54 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 19 | 25 |
| 2024 | Paris | 84 | |||||
2020- Tokyo Olympic
Gold– Avani Lekhara Shooting Women’s 10m Air Rifle SH1
Sumit Antil Athletics Men’s Javelin Throw F64
Manish Narwal Shooting Mixed 50m pistol SH1
Pramod Bhagat Badminton Men’s Single SL3
Krishna Nagar Badminton Men’s Single SH6
Silver– Bhavina Patel Badminton Women’s Single C4
Nishad Kumar Athletics Men’s High Jump T47
Yogesh Kathuniya Athletics Men’s Discuss Throw F56
Devendra Jhajharia Athletics Men’s Javelin F46
Mariyappan Thangvelu Athletics Men’s High Jump T63
Praveen Kumar Athletics Men’s High Jump T64
Singhraj Adhana Shooting Men’s 50m Pistol SH1
Suhas Yathiraj Badminton Men’s Single SL4
Bronze-Singhraj Adana Shooting Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1
Sundar Singh Gurjar Athletics Men’s Javelin Throw F46
Avani Lekhara Shooting Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Position SH1
Harvinder Singh Archery Men’s Individual recurve-open
Sharad Kumar Athletics Men’s High Jump T42
Manoj Sarkar Badminton Men’s Singles SL3
Indian Para athlete are determined to do better than previous held Paralympics. Talent is in abundant in India and we are to perform at the highest level.