The first contingent of the Indian team has left for the Paralympic Games. The event will be held in Paris. Bhagyashree Jadhav and Sumit Antil will be the flag-bearers for India. 84 athletes from India will participate in the Paralympic competition. Paralympic athletes have left for Paris to acclimatize. The country’s 16 para-athletes will arrive at the ‘Games Village’ on August 25. Three days before the opening ceremony, and before staying in hotels in Paris for a few days.
The ceremony will be held from the Champs-Élysées to the Place de la Concorde in the heart of Paris. The Indian contingent is all set to perform at its best in the Paris Paralympics. India’s first contingent of Paralympic athletes, led by star javelin thrower Sumit Antil, left for Paris hoping to win a dozen medals, including five golds.
Antill is challenged to become the first Indian to defend his title at the Paralympics. Along with other Indian athletes, will train at facilities near the French capital to acclimatize to the weather there. The Para Athletics Championships will be held from August 30 to September 8 at the Stade de France. It was in this stadium that the able-bodied athletes took part in the Paris Olympics.
India eyes more medals than Tokyo Paralympics
The Nelson Mandela Sports Complex is 5km from the Stade de France. It has state-of-the-art training facilities for athletics, rugby, tennis, wheelchair tennis, and swimming. Antil (javelin throw F64), Deepti Jeevanji (400m T20), Sachin (shot put F46), Ekta Bhayan (club throw F51), Simran Sharma (200m T12) and Mariyappan Thangavelu (high jump) won gold medals.
India has won a record 19 medals (five gold, eight silver, and six bronze) in the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics. India is sending its largest-ever Paralympic squad of 84 athletes across 12 sports. It has 38 para-athletes. Indian Paralympic Committee President Devendra Zazaria has predicted at least 25 medals from the Paris Games. Bhagyashree Jadhav, who won a silver medal in the women’s shot put F34 event at the Antill and Hang Ho Asian Para Games.
