Para stars finish with best haul of 19, India ranked 24th

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

Inspirational, incredible and indomitable. India’s paralympians managed to be all these and 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.

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. In all, 54 Indian athletes 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 Tokyo, shooters Avani Lekhara and Singhraj Adana, finished on the podium twice. Lekhara, 19, became the first Indian woman to win a gold (10m air rifle) and later added a bronze in 50m rifle 3 positions. It was an inspiring show by the teenager who was paralysed waist down after being injured in a car accident in 2012.

Her father had only taken her to the shooting range so she could vent her anger after the accident left her wheelchair-bound. She was India’s flag-bearer at the closing ceremony. Adana, 39, took a liking to the pistol while dropping his nephew to the shooting range. His right hand impaired, Adana knocked off a 10m air pistol bronze and 50m pistol silver.

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