Avani Lekhara created history after winning India's first Gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. She is the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Paralympics. She achieved this prestigious feat and equaled the current WR to win the Women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 final!

The 19-year-old ended her Paralympics journey with a world record-equalling total of 249.6. Her medal is India's fourth medal at the Tokyo Paralympic Games as of now. Moreover, Avani Lekhara is also the 4th Indian athlete to win a Paralympics gold after Murlikant Petkar (1972), Devendra Jhajharia (2004 and 2016), and Thangavelu Mariyappan (2016).

Read also: Tokyo Paralympics: Nishad Kumar bags silver in High Jump

The Gold-medalist said to the PTI, "I can't describe this feeling, I'm feeling like I'm on top of the world. It's unexplainable. I'm so happy I could be the one to contribute it. Hopefully, there's a lot of medals more to come."

She also added, "I'm so happy I could be the one to contribute it. Hopefully, there's a lot of medals more to come. I was just saying one thing, that I have to take one shot at a time. There's nothing else matters now, just take one shot at a time and just finish it."

Lekhara has made the entire nation proud through her extraordinary achievements at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

With 29 medals already at Paris Paralympics 2024, Indian Para athletes have created history by clinching most medals at a single Paralympics edition for India, crossing their previous record of 19 medals at Tokyo Paralympics 2021. India so far have won 7 Gold medals, 9 silver medals and 13 bronze medals at the Paris Paralympics 2024. 

Avani Lekhara, Sumit Antil and Nitesh Kumar won the Gold medals in Paris. Avani broke the Paralympic record with 249.7 points in the Women's 10m AR Standing SH1 event while Nitesh Kumar grabbed the gold in Men's Singles SL3 by beating Daniel Bethell in the final. Sumit Antil then broke the Paralympics record in Men's Javelin Throw - F64 with a 70.59m throw to clinch the Gold.

Read Also | India At Paralympics 2024: Inspirational Stories of India’s Paralympians

Both Avani and Sumit became the only the third Indian to win mutiple Gold medals at the Paralympics while 9 other Para Athletes also became multimedalists at Paralympic Games for India.

Praveen Kumar, Dharambir, Harvinder Singh were the other Indians to clinch Gold medals at the Paralympic Games 2024. Praveen won the Gold in Men's High Jump T64, Dharambir won Gold in Men's Club throw F51 while Harvinder Singh became the first Indian to win Gold in Para-Achrey in Paralympics.

On day 10, Mandeep Singh won India's 7th Gold medal by clinching a Pralaympic record in Men's Javelin Throw F-41.

India's medals at Paris Paralympics so far

India's medals at Paris Paralympics by sports

Indian Medalists at Paris Paralympics

India At Paralympics: Medals by Sports in History

India At Paralympics: Medals by every edition

Games	Athletes	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Rank
1960 Rome	Did not participate
1964 Tokyo
1968 Tel Aviv	10	0	0	0	0	X
1972 Heidelberg	10	1	0	0	1	25
1976 Toronto	Did not participate
1980 Arnhem
/  1984 Stoke Mandeville / New York	5	0	2	2	4	37
1988 Seoul	2	0	0	0	0	X
1992 Barcelona	9	0	0	0	0	X
1996 Atlanta	9	0	0	0	0	X
2000 Sydney	4	0	0	0	0	X
2004 Athens	12	1	0	1	2	53
2008 Beijing	5	0	0	0	0	X
2012 London	10	0	1	0	1	67
2016 Rio de Janeiro	19	2	1	1	4	43
2020 Tokyo	54	5	8	6	19	24
2024 Paris	84	7	9	13	29	TBA

All the data are accurate as of 6 September 2024.

After the Paris Olympics 2024, players have once again started gathering in Paris for the Paralympic Games. The Paris Paralympics 2024 has been inaugurated on Wednesday in the capital of France. This time 84 Indian athletes are participating in the Games running from August 28 to September 9. This is India's largest contingent in these Games so far. India will participate in 12 events this time. It's time we look at India's Paris Paralympics 2024 Day 2 (August 30) schedule.

Also Read: India at Paralympics: How many medals has India won so far?

This time Indian athletes will compete for the first time in Para-cycling, Para-judo, and Para-rowing in the Paralympic Games. They will also try their best in Para-Archery, Para-Cycling, Para-Taekwondo, Para Swimming, and Para Table Tennis events. Para-athletics events will start from August 30. 38 Indian athletes will participate in it. Tokyo Paralympics gold medalist Sumit Antil in javelin throw and Bhavina Patel in table tennis will challenge in women's singles.

Indian competitors will aim to surpass their previous record of 19 medals from the Tokyo Paralympics 2020 from August 29 to September 9. The major contenders include Sumit Antil, Avani Lekhara, Manish Narwal, and Krishna Nagar, who will all defend their titles and look for the gold medal once again for India at Paralympics 2024. Notably, four out of the five para-athletes who won gold medals in the last Paralympics are participating this time too.

So, let us tell you in detail which sports Indian para-athletes will be seen in action on Day 2.

Also Read: India at Paralympics 2024: Indian Para Athletes to watch out for

India at Paralympics 2024: Day 2 (August 30) Schedule

Para-Badminton

• Women's Singles SL3 Group Play Stage Group A - Manasi Joshi vs Oksana Kozyna (Ukraine) - 12:00 PM
• Men's Singles SL4 Group Play Stage Group A - Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj vs Kyung Hwan Shin (South Korea) - 2:40 PM
• Women's Singles SL4 Group Play Stage Group C - Palak Kohli vs Leani Ratri Oktila (Indonesia) - 4:40 PM
• Men's Singles SL3 Group Play Stage Group A - Manoj Sarkar vs Mongkhon Bunsun (Thailand) - 1:20 PM
• Men's Singles SL3 Group Play Stage Group A - Kumar Nitesh vs Yang Jianyuan (China) - 2:00 PM
• Men's Singles SH6 Group Play Stage Group A - Sivarajan Solaimalai vs Chu Man-kai (Hong Kong) - 8:10 PM
• Men's Singles SH6 Group Play Stage Group B - Krishna Nagar vs Miles Krajewski (USA) - 10:50 PM
• Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5 Group Play Stage Group A - Thulasimathi Murugesan/Kumar Nitesh vs Faustine Noël/Lucas Mazur (France) - 12:10 AM
• Women's Singles SU5 Group Play Stage Group A - Thulasimathi Murugesan vs Beatriz Monteiro (Portugal) - 7:30 PM
• Women's Singles SH6 Group Play Stage Group A - Nithya Sre Sivan vs Cai Yi-lin (Chinese Taipei) - 8:50 PM
• Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5 Group Play Stage Group A - Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj/Palak Kohli vs Hikmat Ramdani/Leani Ratri Oktila (Indonesia) - 12:10 AM
• Mixed Doubles SH6 Group Play Stage Group B - Sivarajan Solaimalai/Nithya Sre Sivan vs Natthapong Meechai/Chai Saeyang (Thailand) - 1:30 AM

Shooting Para Sport

• R2 Women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 Qualification - Avani Lekhara & Mona Agarwal - 12:30 PM
• P1 Men's 10m Air Pistol SH1 Qualification - Rudransh Khandelwal & Manish Narwal - 2:45 PM
• R4 Mixed 10m Air Rifle Standing SH2 Qualification - Sriharsha Devaraddi - 5:00 PM

Para Athletics

• Women's Discus Throw F55 Final - Karamjyoti Dalal & Sakshi Kasana - 1:30 PM
• Women's 100m T35 Final - Preethi Pal - 4:45 PM
• Men's Shot Put F37 Final - Manu - 12:22 AM

After the Paris Olympics 2024, players have once again started gathering in Paris for the Paralympic Games. The Paris Paralympics 2024 has been inaugurated on Wednesday in the capital of France. This time 84 Indian athletes are participating in the Games running from August 28 to September 9. This is India's largest contingent in these Games so far. India will participate in 12 events this time. It's time we look at India's Paris Paralympics 2024 Day 1 (August 29) schedule.

Also Read: India At Paralympics 2024: Inspirational Stories of India’s Paralympians

Indian athletes will compete for the first time in Para-cycling, Para-judo, and Para-rowing in the Paralympic Games. India's campaign in para badminton will start on Thursday, August 29 in which Sukant Kadam and Krishna Nagar will challenge in men's singles. Avani Lekhara and Manish Narwal will also aim in para shooting for India at Paralympics 2024.

Indian athletes will also try their best in Para-Archery, Para-Cycling, Para-Taekwondo, Para Swimming, and Para Table Tennis events. Para-athletics events will start from August 30. 38 Indian athletes will participate in it. Tokyo Paralympics gold medalist Sumit Antil in javelin throw and Bhavina Patel in table tennis will challenge in women's singles.

Indian competitors will aim to surpass their previous record of 19 medals from the Tokyo Paralympics 2020 from August 29 to September 9. The major contenders include Sumit Antil, Avani Lekhara, Manish Narwal, and Krishna Nagar, who will all defend their titles and look for the gold medal once again for India at Paralympics 2024. Notably, four out of the five para-athletes who won gold medals in the last Paralympics are participating this time too.

So, let us tell you in detail which sports Indian para-athletes will be seen in action on Day 1.

Also Read: India at Paralympics 2024: Indian Para Athletes to watch out for

India at Paralympics 2024: Day 1 (August 29) Schedule

Para-Badminton

• Women's Singles SL3 Group Play Stage Group A - Manasi Joshi vs Qonitah Ikhtiar Syakuroh (Indonesia) - 2:00 PM
• Men's Singles SL4 Group Play Stage Group D - Tarun Dhillon vs Rogerio Junior Xavier De Oliveira (Brazil) - 3:20 PM
• Women's Singles SL4 Group Play Stage Group C - Palak Kohli vs Milena Surreau (France) - 4:40 PM
• Women's Singles SU5 Group Play Stage Group A - Thulasimathi Murugesan vs Rosa Efomo De Marco (Italy) - 5:20 PM
• Mixed Doubles SH6 Group Play Stage Group B - Sivarajan Solaimalai/Nithya Sre Sivan vs Jayci Simon/Miles Krajewski (USA) - 12:40 PM
• Women's Singles SL3 Group Play Stage Group B - Mandeep Kaur vs Mariam Bolaji (Nigeria) - 2:00 PM
• Men's Singles SL4 Group Play Stage Group B - Sukant Kadam vs Mohd Amin Burhanuddin (Malaysia) - 2:40 PM
• Men's Singles SL3 Group Play Stage Group A - Manoj Sarkar vs Kumar Nitesh - 4:00 PM
• Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5 Group Play Stage Group A - Thulasimathi Murugesan/Kumar Nitesh vs Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj/Palak Kohli - 12:00 PM
• Men's Singles SL4 Group Play Stage Group A - Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj vs Hikmat Ramdani (Indonesia) - 3:20 PM
• Women's Singles SU5 Group Play Stage Group C - Manisha Ramadass vs Maud Lefort (France) - 7:30 PM
• Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5 Group Play Stage Group A - Thulasimathi Murugesan/Kumar Nitesh vs Hikmat Ramdani/Leani Ratri Oktila (Indonesia) - 10:10 PM 
• Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5 Group Play Stage Group A - Palak Kohli/Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj vs Lucas Mazur/Faustine Noël (France) - 10:50 PM
• Men's Singles SH6 Group Play Stage Group A - Sivarajan Solaimalai vs Subhan Subhan (Indonesia) - 7:30 PM
• Women's Singles SH6 Group Play Stage Group A - Nithya Sre Sivan vs Jayci Simon (USA) - 7:30 PM

Para-Taekwondo

• Women K44 -47kg Round of 16 - Aruna Singh Tanwar vs Nurcihan Ekinci (Turkey) - 2:34 PM

Para Cycling Track

• Women's C1-3 3000m Individual Pursuit Qualifying - Jyoti Gaderiya - 4:25 PM

Para Archery

• Women's Individual Compound Open Ranking Round - Sheetal Devi & Sarita Devi - 4:30 PM
• Men's Individual Recurve Open Ranking Round - Harvinder Singh - 4:30 PM
• Men's Individual Compound Open Ranking Round - Rakesh Kumar & Shyam Sundar Swami - 8:30 PM
• Women's Individual Recurve Open Ranking Roun - Pooja - 8:30 PM

Indian para-athletes are set to represent the nation at the 2024 Paralympic Games, set to take place from August 28 to September 8. A total of 84 athletes from India will be competing in the Paralympic games. India had their best campaign in the Paralympics in 2021, where they won 19 medals, including five gold, eight silver, and six bronze medals. Now, the Indian para-athletes will be looking to upgrade their performance in the upcoming Paralympic games in Paris. 

Read Also: India At Paralympics 2024: Full fixture, schedule and streaming details

India at Paralympics 2024: Key Indian Athletes to watch

Avani Lekhara

Para-shooter Avani Lekhara will be among the top medal containers for India in the 2024 Paralympics games. She won two medals in Tokyo including a gold in the 10m air rifle SH1 and a bronze in the 50m rifle 3 positions SH1. Avani also won two gold and one silver in the 2022 Para Shooting World Cup and won gold in the 2022 Para Asian Games. She has been consistent and the Indian fans will be hoping her to drop some brilliant performances and win medals for India in Paris 2024.

Manashi Joshi

Manasi Joshi is set to make her debut in the Paralympics this year. She won a gold medal in the 2019 BWF Para-Badminton World Championships. She has two silver and four medals to her name in the World Championship. Manasi also won one silver and a bronze in the 2022 Para Asian Games and will be trying her best to win a medal for India in her first appearance in the Paralympic Games.

Harvinder Singh

Harvinder Singh, the para-archer who won the bronze medal in the Individual recurve open category in the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics will be representing India in the Summer Paralympics 2024 in Paris. He also won a bronze in the 2022 Para Asian Games. Harvinder will be looking to add another medal to his list in the upcoming Paralympic games, starting from 28th August.

Sheetal Devi

The 17-year-old Indian para archer Sheetal Devi will be making her Paralympics debut in Paris 2024. She was born with a rare medical condition called phocomelia due to which she plays archery using her legs. Despite this, she has won two gold and one silver in the 2022 Para Asian Games. She would like to have a dream debut in the upcoming Paralympics in Paris. 

Sumit Patel

Para-javelin thrower Sumit Patel will be one of the players to watch out for in the upcoming Paralympics Games. He won the gold medal in the 2021 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. He added more gold to his bag during the Para Athletics World Championship in 2023 and 2024. He also won gold in the 2023 Para Asian Games in Hangzhou where he had his career-best throw of 73.29 meters. Sumit has been very consistent for India and hasn't won anything less than a gold. There will be high hopes for him.

Read Also: India at Paralympics: How many medals has India won so far?

India's Paralympic Journey

The Paralympic Games started in 1960. India sent an Indian contingent for the first time in 1968. The Paralympic journey started for India long after the Summer Olympics. The country has won 31 medals so far in the Paralympics, including 9 gold, 12 silver, and 10 bronze medals in 11 editions.

Murlikant Petkar, the hero of the 1965 Indo-Pak war, is India's first Paralympic medal winner. Murlikant Petkar won the gold medal in swimming in the Men's 50m Freestyle 3 event at the 1972 Heidelberg Games. Petkar, a soldier of the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME) in the Indian Army, was a boxer. He became paralyzed after being shot during the India-Pakistan war of 1965. After this, he started swimming and brought the gold medal to India.

India's best campaign was the 2019 Paralympics. 54 athletes participated in the Tokyo Paralympics and won a maximum of 19 medals which included 5 gold, 8 silver, and 6 bronze medals. India finished 24th in the overall medal tally at Tokyo across 162 nations.

Impact of the 2024 Paralympics on Indian Sports

The 2024 Paralympics in Paris will have a significant impact on Indian sports if the athletes achieve the success we are expecting from them. The success of Indian athletes at the Paralympics can raise the number of para-sports in India. Media will highlight the athletes with disabilities, and promote their skills and dedication.

The Indian para-athletes have and will inspire the younger generations to choose para-sports as a profession if they are struggling with disabilities. India have a larger pool of talent and there's no doubt that the nation will grow not as an individual but as a team.

Success on the international stage will increase the investment in sports infrastructure and support systems. This will help make new advanced training facilities and improved resources for para-athletes in India.

The Central Government of India announced the awardees of the Padma awards 2022 on the eve of Republic Day. Padma awards, one of India's highest civilian awards are given in three different categories; Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri. Among all the honorary awardees, 9 Indian sportspeople will be bestowed with Padma Awards 2022 for their immense contribution to sports and making the nation proud.

Devendra Jhajharia

Devendra Jhajharia has been conferred with the Padma Bhushan. The Paralympic medalist became the first Indian Paralympics player to win 2 gold medals at the Paralympics. He won his first gold medal at the 2004 games in Athens and won his second gold medal in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics. Also, he won his third medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by bringing the silver at home.

The Padma Shri awardees:

Neeraj Chopra

Read also: "Biopic can wait, want to win more medals": Neeraj Chopra wants to stay focused

The golden boy of India, Neeraj Chopra became India's first-ever Olympic gold medalist in athletics in Tokyo Olympics 2020. The javelin thrower threw at a distance of 87.58 m in the javelin throw final of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and also brought the gold medal home. Neeraj also became the second Indian individual gold medalist after Abhinav Bindra.

Pramod Bhagat

The World No. 1 para-badminton in men's singles SL3 category, Pramod Bhagat won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. He is one of the best in his field and also became the 5-time World Championships gold medalist

Avani Lekhara

Indian shooter Avani Lekhara is the first Indian woman to win 2 Paralympic medals. She won the bronze medal in the 50m Rifle 3 Position SH1 and also clinched the gold medal in the 10 m air rifle standing SH1 event in the Tokyo Paralympics.

Faisal Ali Dar

Faisal Ali Dar is a former International martial arts champion. He built a small martial arts training academy in the rural district of Bandipora, Kashmir. He trained the 7-year-old Asian Karate Gold medalist Hashim Mansoor and also the 8-year-old world kickboxing champion Tajamul Islam.

Sankaranarayanan Menon Chundayil

Sankaranarayanan Menon Chundayil is a living legend and the senior-most member of the Mudavangattil family. Mudavangattil family runs the Kalari art in Thrissur, Kerala. The 93-year-old Menon traveled around the world to promote kalaripayattu along with his disciples. He also started his family's traditional Vallabhatta centers in the US, UK, Belgium, Sri Lanka, and France.

Brahmanand Sankhwalkar

Read also: Khelo India Youth Games 2021 postponed again due to COVID-19

Brahmanand Sankhwalkar is a former captain of the Indian football team. He was one of the most renowned players during the 80s and is considered one of the greatest footballers of India even today. He had a football career of about 25 years where he played with Salgaocar for 17 years and the Goa state team in the Santosh Trophy. The former captain led the Goa team in 1983 and 1984 and also took the team to 2 consecutive wins at the Santosh Trophy. Also, he is the Indian record holder of a clean sheet of 576 minutes in the 1984 tournament.

Sumit Antil

Sumit Antil clinched the gold medal in the men's javelin throw F64 category at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Also, the Indian Paralympian is the record holder of throwing the javelin at a distance of 68.55 in the Paralympic final.

Vandana Katariya

Read also: India vs Germany Bronze medal match voted as the best hockey match of 2021

Vandana Katariya is the first Indian woman hockey player who scored a hat-trick in the Olympics. She was incredible at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and also was one of the strongest pillars of the team to reach the semi-finals in the history of the tournament. Also, she helped the team to win against South Africa 4-3.