This document provides an overview of India's history and performance at the Paralympics. It discusses India's debut in 1968 and mentions some of its medal wins over years, including recent gold medals in 2016. It then summarizes India's contingent and medal predictions for the upcoming 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo, noting India is sending its largest ever contingent of 54 athletes and hopes to win 15 total medals including 5 gold. The document concludes by profiling some of India's top Paralympian athletes competing in Tokyo who could potentially win medals.

1. INDIA AT
PARALYMPICS
A detailed insight into India’s
Paralympics 2021

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
S. No. Topic Page No.
1. HISTORY OF INDIA AT THE PARALYMPICS 3
2. FORMER HONOURS FOR INDIA AT THE PARALYMPICS 4
3. PARALYMPICS 2021 6
4. INDIA’S PERFORMANCE IN OLYMPICS 2021 7
5. PREDICTIONS ARE ON! 9
6. CARRYING THE RESPONSIBILITIES… 10
7. INDIA AT TOKYO IN THE PARALYMPICS 2020 12
8. INDIA’S HOPES AT THE PARALYMPICS 2020 13

3. HISTORY OF INDIA AT THE PARALYMPICS
India, a regular participant of the Summer Paralympic games, won several
medals till date. It is worth noticeable that India has never participated in
the Winter Paralympic games. India made their debut in the Summer
Paralympic games in the year 1968, then participated again in 1972.
But, for two consecutive Paralympic games, India was missing from the list
of participants. Since then, India has continued their tradition to participate
in the Paralympics. India has taken part in the Paralympic games
continuously from 1984 to 2016, and now, also in this Paralympics 2020.
In the year 1989, the IPC (International Paralympic Organization) was
established in order to organize the Paralympic games thereafter. It
comprises of 165 NPCs (National Paralympic Committees).

4. FORMER HONOURS FOR INDIA AT THE PARALYMPICS
Medal Name Year Sport
Gold Murlikant Petkar 1972 Swimming
Silver Bhimrao Kesarkar 1984 Javelin
Silver Joginder Singh Bedi 1984 Shot Put
Bronze Joginder Singh Bedi 1984 Javelin
Bronze Joginder Singh Bedi 1984 Discus Throw
Gold Devendra Jhajharia 2004 Javelin
Bronze Rajinder Singh Rahelu 2004 Powerlifting
Silver Girisha Nagarajegowda 2012 High Jump
Gold Mariyappan Thangavelu 2016 High Jump
Gold Devendra Jhajharia 2016 Javelin
Silver Deepa Malik 2016 Shot Put
Bronze Varun Singh Bhati 2016 High Jump

6. PARALYMPICS 2021
The Paralympics 2021, particularly meant for the athletes with a range of
disabilities, was originally meant to be conducted from 25th August to 10th
September, 2020. The games were later postponed for a period of 364
days, due to COVID-19. The 16th Paralympics are now scheduled from 24th
August to 5th September, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan.
A total of 540 events would be held in 22 sports, in which 4,517 athletes
would be participating from 167 countries. The most number of athletes
participating are undoubtedly from Japan, the host of the games.
India, with a 54-members contingent would be hoping for a kickstart in the
Paralympics 2021, with its opener scheduled on 25th August in the game of
Table Tennis.

7. INDIA’S PERFORMANCE IN OLYPMICS 2021
Olympics 2021 aka Tokyo 2020, were held successfully from 23rd July to 8th
August, 2021. India bagged a total of 7 medals, its best in the past 4
decades. 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 4 Bronze medals made India’s Olympics
journey a successful one.
India finished the Olympics 2021 at the 48th position and grabbed the 33rd
place in terms of medals won. Neeraj Chopra bagged the maiden gold
medal in the game of Javelin Throw, while Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and
Ravi Kumar Dahiya successfully grabbed the silver medals in Boxing and
Wrestling, respectively.
A similar successful run of events could be expected by the talented Indian
Paralympics contingent, when the games end on 5th September, 2021.

9. PREDICTIONS ARE ON!
Indian Paralympics team would take part in 9 competitions in the
Paralympics 2021. With maximum athletes in the game of Shooting, a
total of 10 shooters, out of which 8 are men while 2 of them are women,
India would surely have very high hopes from this talented contingent.
India’s Chef-de-Mission even claimed that the country could return with an
outstanding performance, bagging a total 15 medals, out of which 5 would
be gold. If this bold prediction goes right, these number of medals would be
even more than all the medals combined, which India has won in the past
11 appearances.
The hopes are soaring high, and so is the hard work and training of the
Paralympians, who have to deal calmly with the immense pressure.

10. CARRYING THE RESPONSIBILITIES…
Carrying the dreams and hopes of the millions, here are a few of the
Paralympians, who could taste success this Paralympics at Tokyo:
 T Mariyappan, Para High Jump, Paralympic Gold Medalist
 Devendra Jhajharia, Para Javelin Throw, Paralympic Gold Medalist
 Sundar Singh Gurjar, Para Javelin Throw, World No. 1
 Pramod Bhagat, Para Badminton, World No. 1
 Krishna Nagar, Para Badminton, World No. 2
And the list just goes on…

12. INDIA AT TOKYO IN THE PARALYMPICS 2020
After the successful commencement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, India has
won a total of 7 medals. They would look to continue the same form in the
Paralympics 2020 which is also taking place in Tokyo. Last time, India
enjoyed a very good Paralympics as they bagged 4 medals (including 2
golds), their best ever performance in a Paralympic game.
Just like the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, India is sending the biggest contingent
of more than 50 athletes to Tokyo. While some of the athletes would be
aiming to rewrite the history by bagging medals, the others would be
making their debuts in the Paralympics.
India has a total of 54 athletes who would compete for a medal in various
sports such as archery, badminton, canoeing, swimming, powerlifting,
shooting, table tennis, taekwondo and athletics.

13. INDIA’S HOPES AT THE PARALYMPICS 2020
 Devendra Jhajharia, two time gold medalist in F-46 Javelin Throw at the
Paralympics, would hope to score a hat-trick by winning 3 gold medals in
the competition.
 Sumit Antil, the world’s current number 1 in the F-64 Javelin Throw this
year, would look to continue his great form and grab a medal for the
country.
 Mariyappan Thangavelu, gold medalist in High Jump (T-42) and Rajiv
Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee, would also like to make India proud once
again.
 Pramod Bhagat, the world’s current number 1 in Badminton and 4 times
World Championship gold medalist, would like to bag a medal at the
Paralympics.

15. THANK YOU
Best of Luck to Team India for the Tokyo
Paralympics 2021.