More Than Medals

India's success at the Paris Paralympics can inspire a new era of inclusivity

- Sammya Mukhopadhyay

Indian Paralympians outshined their Olympics colleagues this year winning 29 medals, the largest medals haul by an Indian contingent in either the Olympics or the Paralympics in history. This was the year India sent the highest number of para-athletes to the contest—84.

At the Paris Paralympics held between August 28 and September 8, India won seven gold medals, nine silver medals and 13 bronze. The 2024 medal haul took India past the 50-medal mark in Paralympics.

A Golden Year

Twenty-three-year-old Avani Lekhara made history winning two gold medals, the first for an Indian woman at the Paralympics. Lekhara had been left paralysed from the waist down following a car accident when she was 11 years old. She first tried her hand at archery and then moved on to shooting. Lekhara had won two medals at the Tokyo Paralympics too—one gold for 10m air rifle standing, and one bronze for 50m rifle 3 positions.

India won two medals in the men’s club throw F51 event. Thirty-five-year-old Dharambir Soorma won gold while 30-year-old Pranav Soorma won silver, recording India’s first one-two in para-athletics. Sumit Antil won gold in javelin throw, Praveen Kumar in high jump T64, Nitesh Kumar in badminton men’s singles and Harvinder Singh in archery.