On Thursday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the India’s Paralympics contingent and made the country proud on the world stage. Indian Paralympians produced a historic show in Pralympians where the team won 19 medals which includes 5 gold, 8 silver, and 6 bronze.
Previously, Modi had hosted the Indian contingent that took part in the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
PM Modi meets paralympians, The Indian para-athletes registered their best-ever performance in the Tokyo Games by winning an unprecedented 19 medals, including five gold, eight silver and six bronze.
Sports Minister felicitated the winners of Tokyo Paralympics
Anurag Thakur, Sports Minister felicitated the 19 medal winners from the Tokyo Paralympics on Wednesday, asserting that he expects them to break more records in the 2024 Paris Games after raising the bar this time with a tremendous performance.
Singhraj Adana (silver and bronze) and Shooters Avani Lekhara (gold and bronze)were the ones to finish on the platform twice.
Sports Minister’s views
“It was my dream to win a medal for my country and I had trained hard for it. Has it sunk in? not yet. I am so happy and grateful,” said the 19-year-old Lekhara, who became the 1st Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold. Thakur praised her and all others who finished on the podium, presenting them with mementos to honour their feats.
“I recall in the 2016 Paralympics, the size of the Indian contingent was 19, while this year the country has won as many as 19 medals. You have shown us that the human spirit is the most powerful of all,” sports minister said at the function where the medal winners were given a standing ovation.
“Our medal tally has increased by about five times. For the first time we have won medals in table tennis and archery, and competed for the first time in canoeing and powerlifting. We equalled two world records and we broke even more. India’s para athletes delivered a perfect podium finish,” he added.
However, he gave the government’s full support to the athletes and states that :
“The government’s approach in extending support to athletes for international competitions has undergone a transformational change. The government will continue to support India’s paralympians with facilities and funding so that they may continue to excel internationally”
Thkur further says, he would like to encourage more national and regional tournaments for the paralympians so they can regularly compete and hone their skills.
Attendees of the event
Also, the function was attended by Thakur’s predecessor and current Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju and Minister of State for Sports Nisith Pramanik among others.
Moreover, present on the occasion were Ravi Mittal, Sports Secretary and Sports Authority of India Director General Sandip Pradhan, Paralympic Committee of India President Deepa Malik also accompanied.
However, Malik thanked the government for constant support. India had sent a 54-strong contingent to the Games, the country’s biggest ever.
