High jumper Shailesh opens gold account for India, 2 world records shattered
Paris Paralympics club throw gold medallist Dharambir Nain and double bronze winner sprinter Preethi Pal have been named as India's flag bearers for the opening ceremony on September 27.
Some of the globe's best para athletes, including blade runners, prosthetic jumpers and wheelchair-bound competitors, will showcase their awe-inspiring grit and resilience on the sporting field when the biggest ever World Para Athletics Championships begins in New Delhi on Saturday.
This edition of the championship holds critical importance as it serves as the final selection trial for the Indian contingent heading to the prestigious New Delhi 2025 World Para Athletics Championships later this year.
In the absence of several Indian and foreign para athletes, who had initially confirmed their participation but pulled out for various reasons, there were several events where the participation was a bare minimum -- in some disciplines just one athlete participated.
Sharad Kumar and Mariyappan Thangavelu won silver and bronze respectively in the men's High Jump T63 while Ajeet Singh and Sundar Singh Gurjar took the second and third spots in the Javelin Throw F46 final.
Gold in Rio. Silver in Tokyo. Bronze in Paris. Mariyappan Thangavelu is a Paralympic legend.
The likes of Antil, who is bidding to become the first Indian to defend his Paralympics gold, will train at facilities near the French capital to acclimatise with the weather conditions there.
Para high jumper Sharad Kumar has not met his Ukrainian coach Nikitin Yevhen for more than two years due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
India swept all the three medals in men's high jump T63 and men's club throw F51 events
Thangavelu had won the Rio Paralympics T-42 high jump gold by clearing 1.89m.
Defending champion Mariyappan Thangavelu and Sharad Kumar won a silver and bronze respectively in the men's high jump T42 event as India's medal tally at the Paralympics touched an unprecedented 10 on Tuesday.
Mariayappan Thangavelu on Tuesday rued that rain foiled his bid for a second consecutive gold medal at the Paralympics, saying the wet sock did not let him give his best in the T42 event in Tokyo.
Sharad Kumar has been training in Ukraine since 2017 in his bid to win a medal at the Tokyo Paralympics, postponed to next year due to the pandemic.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday donated a month's salary over and above Prime Minister Narendra Modi's directive to all BJP MPs to contribute Rs one crore from MPLAD funds in the country's fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
India's limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma, star wrestler Vinesh Phogat, TT player Manika Batra and Paralympic gold-winning high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu were on Tuesday picked for this year's Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award by the sports ministry's selection committee.
Thangavelu Mariyappan, who became only the third Indian ever to clinch a gold medal in the Paralympics, will be the country's flag-bearer at the closing ceremony of the Rio Games on September 18. "Thangavelu Mariyappan will take lead as the flag bearer of the closing ceremony at the Paralympic Games 2016!," the Indian Olympic Association tweeted from its official handle.
Sports Minister Vijay Goel on Wednesday refused to commit if medallists of the ongoing Rio Paralympics will be conferred with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award -- the highest sporting honour in the country. An Olympic medallist directly qualifies for the Khel Ratna award during an Olympic year but Goel said there is no such policy in place for the paralympians.
There was double joy for India at the Rio Paralympics on Saturday, as high jumpers Mariyappan Thangavelu and Varun Singh Bhati won gold and bronze. Thangavelu scripted history, becoming the first Indian para-athlete to win a gold medal in the men's high jump-T42 final, on Day 2 of the Games at the Olympic Stadium.
Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar, who missed out on an Olympic medal by a whisker in Rio de Janeiro recently, on Sunday showered praise on Thangavelu Mariyappan and Varun Singh Bhati for winning gold and bronze in the Paralympics. "You have achieved something what I could not. I would have loved to meet both of you in person," Dipa said in her congratulatory message.
Sharad Kumar smashes continental record for gold in men's high jump
Sharad and Bhati participated in the T-42 category of men's high jump event.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met the Indian athletes who took part in the Rio Paralympic Games, including the four medallists, and applauded them for making the country proud with their achievements. The 19-member Indian contingent had returned home from the Paralympics with two golds, one silver and a bronze. Mariyappan Thangavelu (men's T42 high jump) and Devendra Jhajharia (men's F46 javelin throw) had won gold in their respective events while Deepa Malik (women's F53 shot put) and Varun Singh Bhati (men's T42 high jump) had bagged a silver and bronze respectively.
The Rediff Labs team analysed the data from Rio 2016 Paralympic Games' official website and created the above map with a total number of medals won by each country.
India's Amit Kumar Saroha missed the bronze medal by a whisker in the men's F51 club throw competition at the Rio Paralympic Games on Friday.
From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to India's lone individual Olympic gold-medallist Abhinav Bindra, congratulatory messages poured in from all corners for Rio Paralympic Games' T-42 high-jump gold-medallist Mariyappan Thangavelu and bronze medal winner Varun Bhati.
The Haryana government has announced a cash reward of Rs. 4 crore for Deepa Malik, who scripted history by winning silver in the women's shot put F53 event at the ongoing Paralympics in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.
Rio Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik, Virat Kohli are in the list
Four Indian Paralympics medal winners at the Rio Games last month -- Devendra Jhajharia, Mariyappan Thangavelu, Deepa Malik and Varun Singh Bhati -- were on Monday felicitated by a host of personalities, including cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar.
Touched with Paralympian Mariyappan Thangavelu's gesture to donate Rs 30 lakh from his prize money to his school, Sports Minister Vijay Goel on Monday said that all athletes backed by the government should try to set up academies or centres of their own to inspire the youth. Mariyappan, who scripted history at Rio Paralympics after winning a gold medal in high jump, has donated Rs 30 lakh from his 2 crore prize money towards his government school in Tamil Nadu.
An angry Satyanarayana Shimoga questions why he has been denied the Dronacharya award.
At Rediff.com, we would like to salute their undying spirit...
Rediff.com gives you a throwback to an eventful 2017, in pictures.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday
The gold medal in men's javelin throw F46 category in the Rio Paralympics made Devendra Jhajharia the most successful Indian para athlete ever but he is in no mood to stop here and is eyeing for a treble in the 2020 Tokyo Games. The 35-year-old Jhajharia, a left-hand amputee, is the only Indian para athlete to have won two gold medals in the Paralympics, the earlier one being the yellow metal he won in 2004 Athens. "I am not stopping here after the Rio success. I have enough gas in my tank and I will definitely go for gold in Tokyo. I know my body and I can still train two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening rigorously everyday, just like I did in the build-up to the Rio Paralympics," Jhajharia told PTI in an interview.