Double medal heist for India Paralympics team as Preethi Pal and Nishad Kumar win big

The Indian campaign at the Paralympics looks on course to be the contingent’s best performance in the games ever. Early on Monday, India Paralympics 2024 medal tally rose to 7 from 5 as Preethi Pal and Nishad Kumar achieved a podium finish in their respective events. Preethi Pal etched her name in the history books as she became the first Indian woman to win two track medals at the Paralympics. The 23-year-old para athlete won her second medal at the Paris Paralympics as she triumphed in the 200m T35 race. Nishad Kumar, meanwhile, bagged a silver medal in the men’s high jump T47 event.

Preethi Pal wins second track medal of India Paralympics campaign in Paris

The victorious exploits by Preethi Pal at the Paris Paralympics marked the onset of a golden run for India in para athletics. On Friday, as Pal won a bronze medal in the women’s 100m T35 event, India achieved its first-ever Paralympics medal in a track event. Until then, India had won 17 medals in para athletics, but all were in field events. Now, as Pal won a second bronze medal in the same edition, the 23-year-old para athlete has cemented her place in the Indian Paralympics record books. She has become the first-ever Indian woman to win two track medals in the Paralympics.

Preethi Pal started off her Paralympics season on Friday by achieving her personal best with a time of 14.21 seconds in the 100m T35 event, securing third place. The T35 category, in which Preethi Pal won India its first-ever track medal, is designed for para-athletes with coordination impairments, including conditions like hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, and cerebral palsy.

Taking the track for her second event of the edition, Preethi Pal delivered her best performance to secure a podium finish. The Indian para athlete registered her personal best time of 30.01 seconds to bag the bronze medal in the 200m T35 event. Apart from being the only Indian with two track medals, Preethi Pal is now also only the second Indian woman to win two medals in a single edition. The first is Avani Lekhara, who won a gold and a bronze at the Tokyo Paralympics.

Nishad Kumar wins the silver medal in Men's High Jump T27 final in Paralympics

Nishad Kumar repeated his heroic performance from the Tokyo Paralympics to win a silver medal at the Paris Paralympics. The para athlete secured the second spot in the men’s high jump T47 event on Monday. Nishad registered his personal best attempt of 2.04m to lock in the silver medal. However, USA’s Roderick Townsend cleared the 2.12m mark to achieve the season's best performance and win the gold. Nishad tried his best but failed to clear the 2.08m mark, ultimately settling for the silver. Nishad Kumar had won a silver in the same event at the last edition of the Paralympic Games. Interestingly, Roderick Townsend had won the gold medal in that edition too. Meanwhile, neutral Paralympic athlete Georgii Margiev bagged the bronze medal in the event. India also had another representative in the same event, Ram Pal, who finished seventh with his personal best jump of 1.95 meters.

The silver medal won by Nishad Kumar on Monday brought India’s para athletics medal tally to 3. The other two are the bronze medals won by Preethi Pal in the women’s 100m T35 event and the women’s 200m T35 event, respectively. India won 8 medals in Track and Field at the Tokyo Paralympics. The Tokyo Paralympics is still recorded as the best outing for Indian Paralympics, where the contingent won 19 medals. The Tokyo Paralympics exploits by India included 5 gold medals, 8 silver, and 6 bronze medals.

India Paralympics: Medals won at Paralympics 2024 so far

The Paris Paralympics kicked off on 28 August with a glorious opening ceremony. While India didn’t open its medal tally on the first day of the games, the contingent won back-to-back medals on Friday. Avani Lekhara kicked off the tally as she won the gold medal in the women’s 10m air rifle SH1 event. Indian para shooter Mona Agarwal, meanwhile, clinched the bronze medal in the same event. Moreover, Preethi Pal won a bronze medal on the same day before para shooter Manish Narwal concluded the day with a silver medal in the men’s 10m air rifle SH1 event.

India won another medal in para shooting as Rubina Francis bagged the bronze medal in the women’s 10m air rifle SH1 final on Sunday. Now, with a total of 7 medals in the account, India is assured of at least 3 more medals, thanks to para shuttlers like Thulasimathi Murugesan and Nithesh Yathiraj. The Paris Paralympics will mark its conclusion on September 8 with a closing ceremony.