The medal tally for India hit 20 on September 3, Tuesday after a late surge from the contingent on Day 6 of the Paris Paralympics 2024.
Deepthi Jeevanji, Sharad Kumar, Mariyappan Thangavelu, Ajeet Singh and Sundar Gurjar all clinched medals late into Tuesday to ensure that India finished the day on a high after a few near misses at the start of proceedings. Bhagyashri Mahavrao and Avani Lekhara finished 5th in the Women’s Shot Put – F34 Final and Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1 Final respectively.
India won 19 medals in Tokyo in 2021 — which was their best-ever tally in the Paralympics. With four more competition days left, India can dream of taking it past 25 and setting a new high.
Pooja Khanna was also eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Women’s Individual Recurve Open as the onus fell on Jeevanji and the high jump and javelin athletes to make a mark. Jeevanji secured India’s third track medal by winning bronze in the women’s 400m T20 final. The world champion sprinter clocked a time of 55.82 seconds to claim the podium finish.
At the Paris Paralympics, Ajeet Singh and Sundar Gurjar delivered outstanding performances in the men’s javelin F46 event, securing medals for India. The duo achieved their season-best throws to claim silver and bronze, completing a remarkable 2-3 finish for the country.
Ajeet Singh, who had been trailing Sundar Gurjar for most of the event, surged ahead with his fifth throw, recording a distance of 65.62 meters to clinch the silver medal. Sundar Gurjar followed closely with a best throw of 64.96 meters, earning the bronze. The event was won by Cuba’s Guillermo Varona Gonzalez, who set a new Area Record with a throw of 66.14 meters.
India’s third participant, Rinku, also recorded his season-best performance with a throw of 61.58 meters, finishing in fifth place in the event.
India’s Sharad Kumar won silver, and Mariyappan Thangavelu secured bronze in the Men’s High Jump – T63 Final on Tuesday, September 3. Sharad achieved a top jump of 1.88 meters, setting a new Paralympic record in the T42 category, surpassing the previous record held by Mariyappan, who had claimed silver at the Tokyo Games. This time, Mariyappan had to settle for bronze with a best jump of 1.85 meters.
Shailesh Kumar, the third Indian competitor in the event, also recorded a personal best of 1.85 meters but missed out on a medal as he cleared the height on his second attempt.
India are currently 17th in the medal standings with 3 gold, 7 silver and 10 bronze to their name.