New Delhi: India’s Paris Paralympics 2024 journey came to an end on Sunday after para canoer Pooja Ojha bowed out of her semifinal event. The para athletes accounted for a total of 29 medals in the Summer Games, including seven gold, nine silver and 13 bronze medals, which was India’s most successful campaign since its first appearance in the quadrennial tournament in 1968.
In the women’s kayak single 200m KL1 sprint in canoeing, Pooja finished fourth clocking 1:17.03s in the first semifinal of the event. Only the top-three from each semifinal were eligible to enter the final. Brianna Hennessy of Canada (57.00) and Maosan of China (57.26) claimed the top-two spots of semifinal 1.
Meanwhile, Pooja fell 7.03 seconds behind the third-placed Eleonora de Paolis of Italy (1:10.0s). The 38-year-old Indian para canoer was the last athlete from her country for a medal contention among 14 gold medals on offer on the final day.
As a result, India finished the Paris Paralympics with 29 medals to script their best campaign in the Games history. At the last edition in Tokyo, India were ranked 24th with five gold, eight silver and six bronze medals.
India records most gold medals in a single edition of the Paralympics
Along with its overall medal tally, the Indian Paralympic contingent also improved on bettering the gold medal count, though marginally. India bagged seven gold medals in this edition, surpassing the mark of five gold medals claimed in Tokyo three years ago.
India now have won a total of 16 gold medals in the Paralympics ever since Murlikant Petkar won the first gold medal in the 1972 Heidelberg Paralympics in men’s 50m freestyle 3 event in para swimming.
The likes of Avani Lekhara (women’s 50m rifle 3 positions SH1) and Sumit Antil (men’s javelin throw F64) became the first Indians to defend their gold medals in their respective events. Sumit and Avani also joined Devendra Jhajharia to win two gold medals in Paralympics.
Nitesh Kumar (men’s singles SL3), Harvinder Singh (men’s individual recurve), Dharambir Nain (men’s club throw F51), Praveen Kumar (men’s high jump T64), and Navdeep Singh (men’s javelin throw F41) are the other gold medallists in the 19th edition of Paralympics.
The para athletes accounted for a total of 29 medals in the Summer Games, including seven gold, nine silver and 13 bronze medals, which was India’s most successful campaign since its first appearance in the quadrennial tournament in 1968. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
