Better than the best
Tokyo, Sept 5: Inspirational, incredible and indomitable.
India’s paralympians managed to be all these and much more in an epoch-making campaign at the Tokyo Games where an unparalleled 19 medals, including five gold, helped them sign off 24th in the overall tally — the highest ever.
The tally also included eight silver and six bronze medals but most importantly, it was a performance during which history was scripted almost everyday with the contingent living up to the ‘Spirit in Motion’ motto of the Games.
Even on the last day of competitions, the medal rush did not stop and Krishna Nagar won a gold after Noida’s District Magistrate Suhas Yathiraj signed off his brilliant run with a silver to complete a remarkable badminton show.
The duo’s performance was like icing on the cake for the contingent which found new heroes, celebrated some established ones and brought para-sports firmly into spotlight in India.
In all, 54 came to Tokyo and 17 of them left with medals around their necks.
It was an improved performance no doubt but calling it just improvement would be an understatement given that India’s overall Games haul was a mere 12 before this edition.
To put things in perspective, at the 2016 Rio Games, India had 19 athletes across five disciplines with four returning with medals in the end.
There were several firsts to celebrate and the euphoria lasted the entire duration of the Games.
Two athletes, shooters Avani Lekhara and Singhraj Adana, finished on podium twice, creating their own legacies in their debut Paralympics.
The 19-year-old Lekhara became the first Indian woman to win a Games gold (10m air rifle) and later added a bronze in 50m rifle 3 positions to ensure that her name would now be part of every India-centric Paralympic quiz.
It was an inspiring show by the teenager who was paralysed waist down after being injured in a car accident in 2012.
And to think of it, all her father had hoped to achieve by taking her to the shooting range was for Lekhara to get over the anger she had internalised after the accident which left her wheelchair-bound.
She was fittingly India’s flag-bearer at the closing ceremony, an honour that she had earned with a stupendous performance.(PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
