The Paris 2024 Paralympics will be underway on August 28, 2024, with India sending its highest-ever contingent of 84 para-athletes.
In this article, Sportstar looks at 10 Indians to watch out for in Paris.
Sumit Antil (Men’s Javelin Throw - F64)
Sumit Antil reacts during the men’s Javelin Throw - F64 medal ceremony at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Undoubtedly India’s biggest medal hope in the Paris Paralympics, Sumit Antil will want to continue the momentum from the Tokyo Paralympics, where he won the gold medal in the men’s javelin throw F64 category.
In the 2019 World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Italy, Antil broke the world record in the F64 category as he went on to win the silver medal in the combined event. He followed it up with another silver medal at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships, Dubai and broke his own world record in the F64 category.
The crowning moment in his career came in the 2020 Summer Paralympics, where he won a gold medal and broke his own world record once again with a throw of 68.55m.
Antil did not grow tired of raising the bar as he broke his own world record for the fourth time in a year with a throw of 68.62m, bettering his throw at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
The javelin thrower went on to better his own record yet again at the 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou with a throw of 73.29 metres, which is currently the best in the world.
In 2024, Antil won the gold in the men’s F64 event with a throw of 69.50m at the World Para Athletic Championships in Kobe, Japan.
Avani Lekhara (R2 - Women’s 10m Air Rifle Std SH1, R3 - Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prn SH1, RB - Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Pos. SH1)
Avani Lekhara of Team India poses with her gold medal after winning the R2 - Women’s 10m AR Standing SH1 at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Avani Lekhara, an Indian Paralympian and rifle shooter from Rajasthan, turned heads with her brilliant performance at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo in two events - gold in the 10m air rifle standing and bronze in the 50m rifle 3 positions.
With a gold in Tokyo, Lekhara created history by becoming the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold medal. She also became the first Indian woman to win multiple medals in a single Paralympic Games.
She scored 249.6 points in the final event, setting a Paralympic record and tying the world record.
In 2024, Avani won bronze medals in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 event and R6 — mixed 50m rifle prone SH1 (with Sidhartha Babu and Deepak Saini) at the Para Shooting World Cup in New Delhi.
Mariyappan Thangavelu (Men’s High jump - T63)
India’s Mariyappan Thangavelu in action during the men’s high jump T63 final. | Photo Credit: REUTERS
Another serious medal contender for India, Mariyappan Thangavelu held the distinction of being India’s first Paralympic gold medal winner since 2004.
He competed in the 2016 Rio Summer Paralympics and the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics in the men’s high jump T-42 and T42/T63 category, respectively, winning the gold and silver medals in the finals.
After clearing a distance of 1.78 m in the men’s T-42 high jump event at the IPC Grand Prix in Tunisia, Mariyappan qualified for the Rio Paralympics in 2016. In Rio, Mariyappan bagged the gold with a jump of 1.89m.
In November 2019, at the World Para Athletics Championship in Dubai, Mariyappan bagged the bronze medal behind countryman Sharad Kumar in the men’s T-63 high jump event, clearing a distance of 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in).
Sheetal Devi (Para Archery - Women’s Individual Compound Open and Mixed Team Compound Open)
India’s Sheetal Devi(L) and Rakesh Kumar compete in the mixed team compound - open gold medal archery match during the 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou. | Photo Credit: AFP via Getty Images
Born with a rare medical condition called phocomelia, Sheetal Devi is the first and the only international para archery champion without upper limbs.
However, this did not stop Sheetal from excelling in the sport, with the Indian bagging two gold medals in the 2022 Asian Para Games (women’s compound bow) in the mixed doubles and women’s individual categories. On top of the two golds, she also won silver in the women’s doubles compound event.
In 2023, she was conferred the Arjuna Award by the Indian Government. She also received the Best Youth Athlete Award from the Asian Paralympic Committee.
Krishna Nagar ( Para Badminton - Men’s Singles SH6)
Krishna Nagar in action in the Badminton Men’s Singles SH6 Gold Medal Match against Chu Man Kai at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Krishna Nagar is a para badminton athlete from Rajasthan, India and was once ranked World No. 2 para badminton men’s singles SH6.
He was one of the Indian gold medallists at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics after he beat Hong Kong’s Chu Man Kai 21-17, 16-21, 21-17 in the men’s singles SH6 final.
Nagar won gold at the 2024 World Championship and bronze at the 2019 World Championship in the men’s singles event.
He also won silver in the men’s double category at the 2019 World Championship and bronze in the mixed doubles SH6 at the 2022 World Championship.
In 2021, he was given the Khel Ratna Award - the highest sporting honour conferred by the Indian Government.
Suhas Yathiraj (Para Badminton - Men’s Singles SL4, Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5)
Tokyo Paralympics silver medallist, shuttler Suhas Yathiraj poses with his medal. | Photo Credit: PTI
Arjuna awardee Suhas Yathiraj is currently ranked world No.1 in men’s singles. Along with Nagar, he is also another Indian Paralympian to watch out for in the 2024 Paris Paralympics and a medal contender in para badminton.
A silver medallist at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, Yathiraj, also an IAS officer of the 2007 batch of Uttar Pradesh cadre, is the only IAS officer in India to win a Paralympic medal and an Arjuna Award.
In the 2016 Asian Para Badminton Championship, he became the first Indian bureaucrat to win a professional International Badminton Championship, winning gold after beating Hary Susanto of Indonesia in the final.
Bhavinaben Patel (Para table-tennis: Women’s Singles - WS4 and Women’s Doubles - WD10)
Bhavinaben Patel after winning silver in the table tennis singles Class 4 event at the Tokyo Paralympics. | Photo Credit: PTI
After winning silver in Class 4 table tennis at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Bhavinaben Patel will hope to better that by clinching gold at the Paris Paralympics 2024.
In the 2011 Thailand Open (individual category), she won the silver medal for India in the individual category, which propelled her to No. 2 in the World Rankings. In October 2013, Patel won the silver medal in the women’s singles Class 4 at the Asian Para Table Tennis Championships in Beijing.
In the 2017 of the same tournament, Bhavina managed to bag bronze.
In the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, she won a gold medal in the women’s singles class 3–5.
Yogesh Kathuniya (Men’s Discus Throw - F56)
Discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya clinched the silver medal in the men's discus throw final (F56). | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
Yogesh Kathuniya will be one to watch out for in the Paris Paralympics 2024. In the last edition in Tokyo, he won a silver medal in the men’s discus throw F56 event.
In 2018, Kathuniya set a world record in the F36 category with a throw of 45.18m at the 2018 World Para Athletics European Championships in Berlin.
He was presented with Arjuna Award in November 2021 for his silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympics.
Thulasimathi Murugesan (Para badminton: Women’s Singles SU5, Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5)
Thulasimathi Murugesan in action. | Photo Credit: Instagram | Thulasimathi Murugesan
Participating in her debut Paralympics, the eyes will be on the talented Thulasimathi Murugesan, who is one of the medal contenders for India.
She represented India at the 2022 Asian Para Games in Guangzhou, winning three medals in the SL3-SU5 and SU5 classes. She won a bronze medal in the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 class pairing with Nitesh Kumar. Her silver medal came partnering Manasi Joshi in the women’s doubles SL3-SU5 and the icing on the cake came in the form of gold in the individual women’s singles SU5 category.
Nishad Kumar (Men’s High jump -T47)
Silver medallist Nishad Kumar celebrates after competing in the men’s high jump T47 final at the World Para Athletics Championships. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Having already represented India at the Tokyo Summer Paralympics and winning a silver medal, with an Asian record of 2.06m, Nishad will be another medal contender and an athlete to watch out for in the Indian contingent.
Apart from the Tokyo Paralympics, he won the gold medal in the T46 category at the 2021 World Para Athletics Grand Prix which was held in Dubai. He also won two silver medals in the 2024 and 2023 World Championships and a bronze in the 2019 edition.
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