Here are Indian athletes who won gold medal in Paralympic history.
After the conclusion of the Paris Olympics 2024, sports enthusiasts are excited to witness the 17th edition of the Summer Paralympics, which is set to be held in Paris, France, from August 28 to September 8, 2024. For the first time ever, Paris is set to host the Paralympic Games. The Indian contingent will hope to deliver stellar performances in the upcoming Paralympics Games Paris 2024. Ahead of the grand event, here are Indian athletes who won gold medal in Paralympic history.
1. Murlikant Petkar
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In the 1972 Heidelberg Games, Murlikant Petkar clinched the top spot in the 50m freestyle 3 event in swimming by setting an unbeaten record time of 37.33 seconds. This glorious feat made him both India’s first medallist and gold medallist at the Paralympics.
2. Devendra Jhajharia
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Devendra Jhajharia made India proud when he clinched the country's second Paralympic gold in 2004 at Athens. He came first in the men's javelin throw F44/46 category, breaking the standing world record with a throw of 62.15m. Later in 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, Jhajharia performed remarkably well in the men's javelin throw F46 event. A throw of 63.97m saw him smash his own record and take home his second gold.
3. Mariyappan Thangavelu
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Mariyappan Thangavelu clinched the gold medal for the men's high jump in the F42 category at the 2016 Rio Games, having jumped an impressive height of 1.89 m.
4. Avani Lekhara
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Avani Lekhara scripted history by becoming India’s first female Paralympic gold medallist after acing the women’s 10m air rifle SH1 final at the Tokyo 2020 edition. During the event, she set a new Paralympic record of 249.6 in the process.
5. Sumit Antil
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Sumit Antil achieved the massive feat by impressively bagging the gold and setting a new world record thrice in the men's javelin throw F64 event at the 2020 Tokyo Games. Antil broke his former record of 62.88m set in 2019 with a strong throw of 66.95m. After initially throwing a distance of 68.08m, he repeated this impressive feat before outdoing himself in the penultimate round of the final, managing an even longer throw of 68.55m.
6. Manish Narwal
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Manish Narwal clinched the gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics by shooting a total of 218.2 in the P4 Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 event.
7. Pramod Bhagat
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Pramod Bhagat, in the SL3 men's singles event at the Tokyo 2020 Games beat Daniel Bethell of Great Britain to clinch a first gold medal in badminton with an impressive score of 21-14, 21-17.
8. Krishna Nagar
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Krishna Nagar has made India proud by clinching the second gold medal for badminton in the SL6 category. He managed to pull off a victory against Chu Man Kai from Hong Kong, battling it out till the end with scores of 21-17, 16-21, and 21-17 in the final showdown.
