India reached 20 medals at the Paris Paralympics after a late surge on Day 6, surpassing their Tokyo record

On Day 6, India experienced a late surge in medals, surpassing its previous best Paralympic medal tally of 19. For the first time, the nation has reached the 20-medal milestone at the Games, with a total of 3 gold, 7 silver, and 10 bronze medals. This achievement was driven by outstanding performances from India’s track and field athletes in Paris on Tuesday evening.

India finished the day in 17th place overall. The track and field competitors secured five medals—two silver and three bronze—at the Stade de France. In comparison, at the Tokyo Paralympics, India had earned five gold, eight silver, and six bronze medals.

In the F46 division, javelin throwers Ajeet Singh and Sundar Singh Gurjar, the world record holder, won silver and a medal with throws of 65.62 and 64.96 meters, respectively. Field athletes in the F46 category have either no limbs or only slightly impaired arm or arm movement.

Bronze in the men’s T63 high jump final made Rio Paralympian gold champion Mariyappan Thangavelu the first Indian to earn three medals at the Games. He was the Tokyo 2020 silver medalist. With a jump of 1.88 meters, fellow countryman Sharad Kumar earned silver, while Thangavelu secured the gold with a jump of 1.85 meters. T63 is for high jumpers who have no limbs above the knee or whose leg’s range of motion is only slightly reduced.

Earlier, Deepthi Jeevanji, the world champion sprinter, claimed bronze on her Paralympic debut. Deepthi completed the women’s 400m T20 event in 55.82 seconds, securing a place behind Ukraine’s Yuliia Shuliar (55.16 seconds) and Turkey’s world record holder Aysel Onder (55.23 seconds).

Hailing from Kalleda Village in Telangana’s Warangal district, Jeevanji, the daughter of farm laborers, was diagnosed with intellectual impairment after being discovered at a school-level athletics meet by a teacher.

Throughout her upbringing, Jeevanji and her family faced ridicule from their village due to her disability. However, her achievements have turned this narrative around. Her village has been celebrating her success ever since she won gold at last year’s Asian Para Games and set a world record at the Para World Championships in May, securing another gold.

The young athlete also received support from national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand after starting her training with her initial coach, Nagpuri Ramesh.

The T20 category is designated for athletes with intellectual impairments.

Avani Lekhara’s campaign ends

Avani Lekhara, a gifted Indian shooter, was unable to secure a second medal at the Games, though, as she placed fifth in the Chateauroux women’s 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 final.

In a world-class eight-woman field, the 22-year-old, who was rendered paralyzed from the waist down in a vehicle accident at the age of 11, shot a total of 420.6 while kneeling, prone, and standing.

She is the first Indian woman to win gold medals in the Paralympics twice, though, after finishing first in the 10m air rifle discipline last week.

Natascha Hiltrop of Germany took first place with a score of 456.5, followed by Veronika Vadovicova of Slovakia in second place with 456.1, and Zhang of China in third place with 446.0.

Athletes with lower-limb impairment are eligible to compete in rifle shooting events under the SH1 class. Here, shooters can shoot from a standing or sitting posture (in a wheelchair or chair) with ease while holding their pistol.

Jadhav ends 5th in the shot put.

Bhagyashri Jadhav placed fifth in the women’s shot put (F34).

In her second Paralympic appearance, Jadhav recorded a throw of 7.28 m, which was not sufficient for a podium finish.

China’s Lijuan Zou claimed gold with a season’s best throw of 9.14m, while Poland’s Lucyna Kornobys earned silver with a throw of 8.33m.

The 39-year-old Indian from Nanded district in Maharashtra exemplifies resilience. After losing the use of her legs in a 2006 accident, she fell into depression. However, with support from friends and family, she battled through and reclaimed her life as a para-athlete.

Archer Pooja’s campaign ends in quarters

World Para Championship silver medalist Pooja Jatyan defeated Turkey’s Yagmur Sengul in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals of the recurve women’s open archery competition.

However, the 27-year-old was unable to maintain her form and lost to Tokyo Paralympics bronze medalist Wu Chunyan of China in the quarterfinals.

The loss was especially tough for Pooja, as she had initially led 4-0. Despite Chunyan’s poor performance in the opening set, where she scored only 23 points by hitting the 7-point red ring twice, the pressure seemed to affect Pooja. She faltered in the third set, allowing Chunyan to stage a comeback and ultimately turn the match around.