India finishes Paris Paralympics with 29 medals© AFP
The Paris Paralympic Games 2024 concluded for India on Sunday, with Pooja Ojha the final athlete in action. Ojha failed to qualify for the women's kayak 200m final and bowed out of the competition. As a result, India's medals tally at the Paris Paralympics ended at 29 -- seven golds, nine silvers and 13 bronze, making it the most rewarded campaign for the country. Courtesy of the 29 medals, India stood at the 18th position in the points table. Pakistan, who were also competing win the event, ended the campaign joint-bottom at the 79th position, with just a solitary bronze to its name.
India did very well in the 2024 campaign, beating top nations like Switzerland, Belgium, South Korea, Turkey, Argentina, etc. to finish the Paris Para Games among the top 20 countries in the world.
In comparison to India, the traditional heavyweights at the Paralympic Games -- China, Great Britain, USA, Italy, etc. did very well gain, finishing among the top 10 nations. India, having shown significant progression in Paris, would be keen to produce an even better show in the 2028 LA Para Games.
On Saturday, India earned its 29th and final medal of the Paris Paralympic Games through Navdeep Singh who clinched gold medal in men's javelin throw F41 classification.
Navdeep, who competes in the classification meant for athletes of short stature, originally ended with a silver after he upstaged world record holder Sun Pengxiang of China with a 47.32m throw.
However, that was upgraded to an unprecedented gold after Iran's Sadegh Beit Sayah was disqualified for repeatedly displaying an objectionable flag. Pengxiang (44.72m) finished with a silver.
Sayah had managed to nose ahead of the field with a new Paralympic record of 47.64m in his penultimate throw but lost the medal owing to his antics.
The International Paralympic Committee rules bar athletes from making any political gestures at the event and Sayah was thrown out of the final results for unsporting/improper conduct.
At the same venue, Simran, accompanied by her guide Abhay Singh, clocked an impressive personal best of 24.75sec to finish with a bronze in the women's 200m (T12) event.
The 24-year-old from Delhi, who was found to be visually impaired at the time of her premature birth, is the reigning world champion in this event. She had finished fourth in the 100m competition of the ongoing Games and Saturday's medal helped her redeem her campaign.
Track-and-field has contributed 17 medals to this tally, four of them gold. The country is placed 15th in the overall standings, led by China with a whopping 208 medals, including 90 gold.
For Navdeep, the gold makes up for the fourth-place heartbreak he endured in the Tokyo Games.
An inspector in the Income Tax Department, Navdeep has medalled five times at the national level since taking to the sport in 2017. He won a bronze in the para-world championships earlier this year.
Simran, on the other hand, won two silver medals at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou last year and secured three gold medals in the 100m, 200m, and long jump at the inaugural Khelo India Para Games last December.
She is coached by her husband Naik Gajendra Singh.
With PTI Inputs