India set a new record by winning 111 medals at the Para Asian Games for the Disabled in Hangzhou, China. Women players have won 40 medals.
These competitions were held from 22nd to 28th October. India has won 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze medals. This is India’s highest number of medals in international competitions. The highest number of medals won was 107 in the Asian Games which concluded on October 8 in the same city.
China topped the Para Asian Games with 521 medals, including 214 gold, followed by Iran, Japan, South Korea and India. Although this number seems less compared to countries like China, if we compare the medals won by India in the past competitions, we can understand the great leap of our country.
India’s highest participation in the Para Asian Games was 191 men and 112 women with a total of 303 going to China. This is 113 more than the participation in 2018. They had to compete with over 4,000 athletes from 43 countries across 22 sports.
India won just 14 medals, including one gold, in the first Para Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China in 2010. Our players won 33 medals including 3 gold in 2014 and 72 medals including 15 gold in 2018.
From just one gold medal to now 29 gold medals in a span of 13 years is an incredible achievement that we can all be proud of. Similarly, we have reached 111 medals from just 14.
Indian sportsmen and women have broken 3 world records, various Asian records and Para Asian Games records. Some of these players’ training, effort, background etc. are awe-inspiring.
The achievements of Sheetal Devi, a 16-year-old girl born in Loydar, a hamlet in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district, which has been plagued by terrorism for over 30 years, deserve to be etched in gold letters. At international level, she is the only athlete who shoots with her feet instead of her hands.
His hands did not grow due to a disease called “Pocomelia” at an early age. Attempts to implant artificial hands were unsuccessful. His talent was revealed in a program organized by the Indian Army in his village. After that, the army provided all assistance like education, medicine, training for sports.
Struggling to pick up the bow in the beginning, she stunned the world by winning gold in women’s individual compound, mixed doubles and silver in women’s doubles at the Para Asian Archery Championships.
Another such achiever is Neeraj Yadav from Uttar Pradesh. He won gold in the men’s javelin F55 category. Now 39, he suffered a stroke at the age of 7. However, he did not give up and trained for the Games. He competed in wheelchair tennis from 2005 to 2012. Since 2015, he has been accumulating medals in discus, shot put and javelin events.
Born one of five children in a very poor family in Nashik, Maharashtra, Dilip Gavit lost an arm in an accident at the age of 4 and trained confidently to run 400m. He has won gold in the D47 category.
In the Para Asian Games, Dharmaraj Solairaj won gold in long jump D64 category, Tulsimathi Murugesan won gold in Badminton women’s SU5 category and Mariyappan Thangavelu won silver in men’s high jump D63 category and brought pride to Tamil Nadu and the country.
India has been able to accumulate more than 100 medals in subsequent international competitions due to the initiatives of the central government such as village-level ‘Gelo India’ and the ‘Olympic Medal Platform Targeting Scheme’ and the encouragement of state governments has made a huge impact on athletes.
It has been proven once again that if we find talent at the right time and train it in the right way, our youth can achieve sky highs.
