Here are the 17 Indian superstars who won 24 medals at the Tokyo Paralympics 2021. With 5 gold, 8 silver, and 6 bronze, they smashed records and made history.
India has won 31 medals in 11 editions of the Paralympic Games since their inception in 1960, including nine gold, 12 silver, and ten bronze. More than half of these medals are from Tokyo Paralympics.
Bhavina Patel, silver medal in Tokyo Paralympics, women’s singles table tennis
Bhavina Patel is the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympics in table tennis. Patel, competing in her first Paralympics, defeated reigning champion Borislava Peric of Serbia en route to the final. The Indian finished second after losing to world No. 1 Zhou Ying of China in the gold medal match and won a silver medal in the Paralympics.
Nishad Kumar, silver medal in Tokyo Paralympics, men’s high jump
Nishad Kumar took silver in the men’s T47 high jump with a best attempt of 2.06m, which matched his own Asian record.
The 22-year-old Indian was tied for second position with Dallas Wise of the United States. Roderick Townsend-Roberts of the United States won gold with a 2.15m leap effort that broke the world record.
Avani Lekhara, gold medal in Tokyo Paralympics, women’s 10m air rifle shooting
In her first Paralympics, Avani Lekhara, 19, shot a new Paralympic record score of 249.6. In the women’s 10m air rifle shooting standing SH1 final in Tokyo, setting a new Paralympic record. Avani Lekhara became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Paralympics.
Avani won the gold medal after defeating defending Paralympic champion Cuiping Zhang of China. She reigned global champion Iryna Shchetnik of Ukraine in the final.
Devendra Jhajharia, silver medal in Tokyo Paralympics, men’s javelin throw
In Tokyo, record-breaker Devendra Jhajharia earned silver in the men’s javelin throw F46 class, earning him his third Paralympic medal. In the final, he set a new personal best of 64.35 metres, breaking his own world and Paralympic record of 63.97 metres. However, Dinesh Herath of Sri Lanka won the gold medal with a best throw of 67.79 metres.
Devendra Jhajharia won his first Paralympic medal 17 years ago in Athens 2004.
Sundar Singh Gurjar, bronze medal, men’s javelin throw
Sundar Singh won bronze medal in the men’s javelin throw F46 category.
In the final, he threw a season-best 64.01 metres.
Yogesh Kathuniya, silver medal in Tokyo Paralympics, men’s discus throw
Yogesh Kathuniya of India won his first Paralympic gold in the men’s discus throw F56 class final with a best throw of 44.58m at the Tokyo Paralympics.
Only Claudiney Batistia dos Santos of Brazil, who won the gold medal with a Paralympic record throw of 45.59 metres, could beat him.
Sumit Antil, gold medal, men’s javelin throw
Sumit Antil won gold in the men’s javelin throw F64 category after breaking his own world record three times. The 23-year-old set the bar high with a throw of 66.95 metres, breaking his previous world record of 62.88 metres. Sumit Antil set a new world record with a 68.08m throw in his second attempt.
Sumit Antil’s fifth try in the final resulted in a new world record of 68.55m, putting him on the top step of the podium.
Singhraj Adhana, bronze medal in Tokyo Paralympics, men’s 10m air pistol shooting
With bronze in the men’s 10m air pistol SH1 class, Singhraj Adhana became India’s second shooting medalist at the tokyo Paralympics.
Singhraj Adhana, 39, finished third in the final, behind reigning champion Chao Yang of China (who won gold with a Paralympic record 237.9) and silver medalist Xing Huang of China.
Mariyappan Thangavelu – Silver Medal – men’s high jump
In the men’s high jump T42 class, Mariyappan Thangavelu earned his second Paralympic medal, a silver. Mariyappan Thangavelu took three efforts to clear the 1.83m and 1.86m markers after clearing the first two effortlessly. The defending Paralympic champion attempted the 1.88m for gold but was unable to clear it in three times, earning him silver.
Sam Grewe of the United States won gold by clearing the 1.88m in his third and final jump.
Sharad Kumar – Bronze Medal – men’s high jump
Sharad Kumar, who won bronze in the men’s high jump T42, joined Thangavelu on the podium.
He was assured of a medal after clearing each of his first four markers, including the 1.83m, in his first leap. However, none of his three leaps were able to clear the 1.86m, and he was forced to settle for bronze.
Praveen Kumar, silver medal in Tokyo Paralympics, men’s high jump
At the Tokyo Paralympics, Praveen Kumar won silver in the men’s T64 high jump with a jump of 2.07m. He broke his personal Asian record of 2.05m, which he established in the 2021 World Para Athletics FAZZA Grand Prix in Dubai.
Jonathan Broom-Edwards of the United Kingdom won gold with a 2.10m leap, while Maciej Lepiato of Poland took bronze with a 2.04m leap.
Avani Lekhara, bronze medal, women’s 50m rifle 3 positions
After winning bronze in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 category at the TokyoParalympics just days after winning gold in the women’s 10m air rifle shooting standing SH1 class, shooter Avani Lekhara became the first Indian woman to win two medals at the Games.
Cuiping Zhang of China won gold with a Paralympic record-breaking 457.9, and Natascha Hiltrop of Germany took silver with 457.1 in the final.
Harvinder Singh, bronze medal, men’s individual recurve – open archery
Harvinder Singh won India’s first-ever Paralympic medal in archery with a bronze in the men’s individual recurve – open event at the Tokyo Paralympics.
In the semi-finals, the Indian archer was defeated by eventual gold medalist Kevin Mather of the United States, but in the bronze medal match, he defeated South Korean Kim Min Su 6-5 in a shoot-off to make history.
Manish Narwal, gold medal in Tokyo Paralympics, men’s 50m pistol
Manish Narwal of India won the men’s 50m pistol SH1 shooting gold medal in Tokyo Paralympic with a record-breaking score.
He qualified for the final in seventh position in qualifying, but he went all out in the medal round, shooting 218.2 – a new Para Games record.
Singhraj Adhana, silver medal, men’s 50m pistol SH1, Tokyo 2020
Singhraj Adhana won silver in the men’s 50m pistol SH1 event, giving India a 1-2 finish. He had previously won bronze in the men’s 10m air pistol SH1 event in Tokyo paralympics, finished fourth in qualifying and then finished second to Narwal with a score of 216.7 in the final. Sergey Malyshev of RPC took bronze with a score of 196.8.
Parmod Bhagat, gold medal, men’s singles badminton
In the men’s singles SL3 division of badminton, Pramod Bhagat became the first Paralympic champion. At the Tokyo Paralympics, badminton made its debut.
Pramod Bhagat finished first in Group A and advanced to the semi-final He defeated Daisuke Fujihara of Japan 21-11, 21-16 to win the gold medal match. In the final, the Indian shuttler defeated Daniel Bethell of the United Kingdom. He earned the first spot on the podium.
Manoj Sarkar, bronze medal in Tokyo Paralympics, men’s singles badminton
Manoj Sarkar of India took bronze in the men’s singles SL3 category. He finished second in Group A, qualifying for the semi-finals, where he was defeated by eventual silver medalist Daniel Bethell. Sarkar, on the other hand, defeated Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara in the bronze medal match, 22-20, 21-13.
Suhas Yathiraj, silver medal, men’s singles badminton
Suhas Yathiraj won silver in men’s singles SL4 at the Tokyo Paralympics, giving India its third badminton medal. After coming second in Group A behind defending world champion Lucas Mazur of France, the Indian shuttler, who works as an IAS officer in India, qualified for the semi-finals. In the final four, he defeated Indonesian Fredy Setiawan.
Suhas Yathiraj faced Lucas Mazur in the final for the second time. The Indian put up a tremendous fight against the Frenchman, but fell 21-15, 15-21, 17-21.
Krishna Nagar, gold medal in the Tokyo Paralympics, men’s singles badminton
Krishna Nagar ensured India’s Paralympic campaign ended on a high note by capturing gold in the men’s singles badminton SH6 class. From start to finish, the Rajasthan-born shuttler dominated the competition. He breezed through the group stage, defeating Malaysia’s Didin Taresoh and Brazil’s Vitor Gonçalves Tavares in consecutive games. In the semi-finals, she defeated Krysten Coombs of Great Britain for the second time in a row.
