The Paris Paralympic Games have started on 28 August. This event will run till 8 September. 84 athletes from India are participating in 12 sports in the games. 95 officials have also gone with them. India won a record 19 medals with 5 gold in the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021 and was ranked 24th in the ranking. After 3 years, India’s goal is to take the number of gold medals to double digits and win more than 25 medals in total. Further in the story, we will know who are the contenders for winning medals for India this time…. 1. Sumit Antil (Men’s Javelin Throw-F64)
India is once again hoping for gold from Tokyo Paralympics gold medalist javelin thrower Sumit. Sumit had a record breaking throw of 68.55 meters in Tokyo. Since Tokyo, Sumit has won two gold medals at the World Championships in Paris 2023 and Kobe 2024 and a gold at the Asian Games. He broke the world record with a throw of 73.29m at the 4th Para Games in Hangzhou in 2023. He was made the flag bearer of India at the Paris Paralympics opening ceremony. 2. Mariyappan Thangavelu (Men’s High Jump – T63)
Two-time Paralympic medalist Mariyappan Thangavelu won the gold medal at Rio 2016 with a jump of 1.89m, and also won silver at Tokyo 2020 with 1.86m. He also won gold at the World Championships last year. This time India can get more than one medal in this event. Along with Mariyappan Thangavelu, Sharad Kumar and Shailesh Kumar are also big medal hopes. He will face the challenge of Sam Grevy and Ezra French of America. 3. Avni Lakhera (Shooting)
Avni Lakhera, who won 2 medals in the same sport event before Manu Bhaker, has a chance to repeat history. Avni won 2 medals including gold in the Tokyo Paralympic Games. She is the first female athlete to do so in the Paralympic Games. Avni will participate in 3 shooting events. 4. Sheetal Devi (Archery)
17-year-old Sheetal Devi has made a name for herself at a young age. There are very few archers in the world who do archery without arms. In this Paralympics, Sheetal is one of those 3 archers who will do archery with the help of legs. Sheetal won a silver medal in the World Championship. She will participate in the mixed and singles events this time. 5. Krishna Nagar (Badminton Men’s Singles SH6)
After the ban on Pramod Bhagat, there are very few shuttlers in the Indian team from whom medals are expected. One of them is Krishna Nagar, who will defend the gold won in Tokyo in the SH-6 category of badminton. 6. Manisha Ramadas (Badminton Women’s Singles SU5)
Women’s badminton star Manisha, who won gold at the 2022 World Championships and silver earlier this year at the age of just 19, is expected to win a Paralympic medal. India’s Thulaimathi Murugeshan is the top seed player in this category. 7. Bhavina Patel (Table Tennis, Women’s Singles WS4)
Winning a medal in table tennis in Tokyo was the biggest thing for India. In table tennis, Bhavina Patel defeated 12 higher ranks than her to win a silver medal at the Tokyo Games. She is expected to bring a medal once again.
