India's Paralympic champions made to feel special!

Swarmed by hundreds of supporters garlanded and fed sweets Indiarsquos Paralympic medalwinners returned to a jubilant welcome on Tuesday after securing an unprecedented haul of 29 medals at the justconcluded Games in ParisAlso read Paris Paralympics 2024 Humein bhi utna darja milna chahiye Navdeep Singh after clinching gold medalDhols and garlands galoreThere were the customary dhols garlands and euphoric chants hailing them as the athletes made their way out of the Indira Gandhi International Airport Supporters sports administrators and families of the athletes lined up to show their appreciation for the contingentPCI chief Devendra Jhajharia left with gold medalwinning javelin thrower Sumit Antil right Gold medallist javelin thrower Navdeep Singh pumps the air in excitementldquoThank you so much for this grand welcomerdquo said javelin thrower Sumit Antil who clinched a second successive gold in the F64 category by breaking his own Games record with a throw of 7059mThe reigning world champion became the second Indian after shooter Avani Lekhara to defend the Paralympics titleArchers Sheetal Devi left and Harvinder Singh with their bronze and gold medals respectively right High jump silver medallist Nishad Kumar with his medalAvani had won gold in the womenrsquos 10m air rifle standing SH1 event in Paris after winning the yellow metal in the same event at the Tokyo Games She returned to the country last week after completing her events Antil lost his left leg below the knee after he was involved in a motorbike accident in 2015 He was an ablebodied wrestler before his accident that led to the amputation of his leg below the kneeldquoWhen you prepare well you automatically feel confident Irsquoll try to breach the 75m mark soon Irsquove not had tea for a few days Irsquod like to have tea with my familyrdquo Antil saidArcher Harvinder Singh who is also pursuing a PhD in Economics from Punjab University was overwhelmed by the appreciation He has impaired legs owing to the side effects of a dengue treatment he received as a toddler He became the first Indian archer to win gold at the Paralympics after becoming the countryrsquos first medallist in the sport three years ago in Tokyo with a bronzeInspirational stuffldquoI like to keep myself busy It helps my focus the mind wanders less Any person who is distressed or defeated can take inspiration from paraathletesrdquo he said even as supporters showered flower petals on him and fellow archer Sheetal DeviSheetal who was born without arms won the mixed team bronze with Rakesh Kumar after missing an individual medal by a whisker ldquoIrsquove had a great experience Irsquom very happy that India won two medals in archery We have got good support and thatrsquos why we have won so many medalsrdquo she said referring to Indiarsquos record overall haul that placed the country 18th in the medal standingsAnother javelin thrower Navdeep F41 classification for short stature was lifted by his supporters as he celebrated with them Navdeep won the gold medal with a personal best of 4732m India had sent a contingent of 84 athletes the countryrsquos largest ever for these Games and returned with 29 medals of which seven are goldmdashanother first for the nation84Strength of Indian contingent29Total medals won by India7No of gold medals won9No of silver medals won13No of bronze medals won18Position in medals tallyBig prize money for medallistsSports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced cash awards of R75 lakh to gold medallists Rs 50 lakh for silver winners and Rs 30 lakh for bronze medalwinning Indian paralympians who returned from the Paris Games on Tuesday Those excelling in mixed teams events like archer Sheetal Devi will get richer by Rs 225 lakhThe minister announced this during an event organised to felicitate the medallists Mandaviya also pledged full support and facilities for paraathletes to aim for more medals at the 2028 Los Angeles ParalympicsldquoThe country is rising in Paralympics and para sports From four medals in 2016 India won 19 medals in Tokyo and 29 now in Paris with an 18th place finish We will provide all the facilities to all of our paraathletes so that we can win more medals and gold medals in 2028 Los Angeles Paralympicsrdquo Mandaviya saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever