Paralympics: How India went from one medal in 2012 to 29 in Paris

Girisha Hosanagara Nagarajegowda, who won a gold medal in the men’s large leap, was India’s wayward shining moment at the 2012 London Games.

The state had n’t won any prize at the 2008 model in Beijing, so it felt particular to thousands of Indians.

But Nagarajegowda’s win also sparked discussions on whether a lone medal was enough for a country that has millions of people with disabilities.

Additionally, it raised concerns about India’s public attitudes toward parasport and disability. However, everything seems to have clicked since 2012 for the nation.

India won four trophies in Rio in 2016 and 20 at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

And it closed the Paris Paralympics with an impressive tally of 29 medals. There have been so many moments to savour for India in Paris – from Sheetal Devi, who competes without arms, winning a bronze with Rakesh Kumar in a mixed compound archery event to Navdeep Singh registering a record throw of 47.32m in javelin to win a gold in the F41 category (athletes with short stature compete in this class).

These accomplishments stand out in light of the exponential rise Indian paralyzees have experienced in the last ten years.

India still has a long way to go before it can defeat nations like China ( 220 medals ), Great Britain ( 124 ), and the US ( 105 ), but paralympians in the nation claim the tide may be turning.

What exactly changed in this short amount of time?

Plenty.

Many government agencies, coaches and business firms came up to invest in rio athletics.

And as they assisted more champions emerge, more children and their parents felt inspired to pursue parasport as a career.

The brain manager of the Indian par basketball team, Gaurav Khanna, claims that having people to look up to has altered beliefs:

” This has given more sports confidence that they can do greater and increased the number of players who are participating.” There were only 50 sportsmen in the regional camp when I joined the par basketball team in 2015, compared to 50 when I first started playing. Today that figure has gone up to 1, 000″.

Since he began training paralympians, this has changed a lot. Before moving to remote areas of the country, Khanna used to place young talent in odd places like malls, part shops, and even on highways.

” In the past, it was difficult for families to persuade their kids to enroll in a program they were unaware of. Imagine persuading a young girl’s parents to send her to a faraway camp and to trust a stranger they did n’t know. But that’s how earlier warriors came to the fore”, he adds.

Technology has also been a significant factor. With India’s growing economic skills, Indian par players now have access to world-class products.

According to Khanna, each illness sport class requires unique equipment, which is frequently customized to the needs of the individual athlete.

” We used whatever we could find, not great tools,” we said previously. But now it’s a unique planet for our players”, he says.

Nipun Malhotra, a right advocate for people with disabilities, acknowledges the shift in perspective. He claims that the biggest shift he has noticed is that parents now think that kids with disabilities can also become soldiers:

” I believe people have started playing a much more significant part, and people with disabilities have gotten much more integrated into individuals than they did 20 years before,” she said. This also has an impact on how society views illness. The fact that there are people who have disabilities who excel in sports even gives hope to the next generation.

Khanna and Malhotra both credit government initiatives like TOPS ( Target Olympic Podium Scheme ) for identifying and supporting emerging talent.

Private organizations like the Olympic Gold Quest, which are supported by corporate entities, have also assisted par athletes realize their full potential.

And then there are individuals like Khanna, who use their own funds to launch skills scouting and training programs.

Sheetal Devi’s quest had n’t be possible without the support she got from a private company. She was born in a small Jammu district village, but she was n’t fully aware of archery until about two years ago.

On the recommendation of a friend, she went to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board’s sports complex in Jammu’s Katra, and she that met her trainer Kuldeep Vedwan.

She is now as well-known in India as Manu Bhaker, who captured two bronze medals in the firing competition in Paris.

Businesses are now signing Devi, and a jewelry ad featuring her has become well-liked.

Social media has made it easier for paralyzed sports to communicate with people and share their stories. They hope that this will enable them to establish a brand and ultimately lead them to business success. There is already room for celebrities like Devi, and there is hope for more.

However, there is still plenty of work to be done.

India also needs to work toward making accessibility accessible for people with disabilities, with the majority of public spaces however lacking basic amenities to help people navigate daily life.

Despite earning an economics degree from a prestigious college in India, Malhotra discovered that many did n’t want to hire him because he was born with arthrogryposis, a rare congenital disorder that meant that the muscles in his arms and legs did n’t fully develop.

He hopes that India’s paralympic success may gradually open those windows.

” The upside of this] India’s medal tally in Paris ] is pretty high. Handicapped people, including those with levels from Oxford, struggle to find jobs in India. Our Championships victory will help companies think about hiring handicapped people without any worry, he claims.

While some were delighted by India’s outstanding performance in Paris, coaches like Khanna think that even in large Indian cities, the quality of the grassroots facilities for paralyzed athletes is also subpar.

He makes the point that classifications in para sports are very complex, and qualified coaches are required to identify natural talent and steer them in the appropriate categories even before a young athlete is begin training.

In the last 20 years, sports facilities have greatly improved, even in little American cities, but parasport also suffers a significant setback.

This has to change, says Malhotra, because even in the most well-known schools in cities like Delhi and Mumbai, you wo n’t find well-trained parasport coaches.

Khanna urges the government and private people to train more educators because shift must begin at the beginning.

He contends that players can still achieve notoriety currently only if they are recognized and supported by organizations.

” But we wo n’t get to the top of the table like this. Even in the most remote area of the country, we must make sure that a disabled child has access to a great coach and amenities,” the par volleyball coach adds.