JSW - Team India at the Paralympic Games

Team India at the Paralympic Games

As The Tokyo Paralympic Games Inch Closer, We’re Taking A Look At How India Has Fared At The Games, The Medals, The Medal-Winners And More...

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will begin on August 24 and go on until September 5, 2021. This edition will see India send its largest-ever contingent, with 54 athletes set to compete across nine different sports. In comparison, only 19 Indians competed at the Rio 2016 Paralympics.

India made its Paralympic debut at the 1968 Tel Aviv Games. The nation competed again in the 1972 Heidelberg Games and did not take part until the 1984 edition in New York. For 36 years since Team India’s tricolor has been in participation at every edition.

India’s first-ever medal at the Paralympics came in Heidelberg when Murlikant Petkar won Gold by swimming the 50-meter Freestyle in a then World Record time of 37.331 seconds. Then in 1984, Joginder Singh Bedi made history by winning three medals, across three different events. Having won Silver in the Men's Shot Put, Bedi went on to win Bronze in the Discus Throw and another Bronze in the Javelin Throw.

After the 1984 Games, India had to wait until Athens 2004 for its next set of medals, when Devendra Jhajharia won Gold in the Men's Javelin F44/46 and Rajinder Singh Rahelu won Powerlifting Bronze in the 56kg category.

The Rio 2016 Paralympics saw Team India’s best-ever medal haul with four, including its first ever female Paralympic medalist in Deepa Malik.

Here’s the full list of Indian Paralympic medal winners:

S. No.	Name	Medal	Edition	Sport	Event
1	Murlikant Petkar	Gold	1972 Heidelberg	Swimming	Men's 50m Freestyle 3
2	Bhimrao Kesarkar	Silver	1984 UK/USA	Athletics	Men's Javelin Throw
3	Joginder Singh Bedi	Silver	1984 UK/USA	Athletics	Men’s Shot Put
4	Joginder Singh Bedi	Bronze	1984 UK/USA	Athletics	Men's Javelin Throw
5	Joginder Singh Bedi	Bronze	1984 UK/USA	Athletics	Men's Discus Throw
6	Devendra Jhajharia	Gold	2004 Athens	Athletics	Men's Javelin Throw
7	Rajinder Singh Rahelu	Bronze	2004 Athens	Powerlifting	Men's 56 kg
8	Girisha Nagarajegowda	Silver	2012 London	Athletics	Men's High Jump
9	Mariyappan Thangavelu	Gold	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Athletics	Men's High Jump
10	Devendra Jhajharia	Gold	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Athletics	Men's Javelin Throw
11	Deepa Malik	Silver	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Athletics	Women's Shot Put
12	Varun Singh Bhati	Bronze	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Athletics	Men's High Jump

Here’s a breakdown of India’s medals across the various editions:

S. No.	Edition	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	1972 Heidelberg	1	-	-	1
2	1984 UK/USA	-	2	2	4
3	2004 Athens	1	-	1	2
4	2012 London	-	1	-	1
5	2016 Rio de Janeiro	2	1	1	4