Deepa Malik, who was on Saturday nominated for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, believes that her biggest achievement is changing perception of common public towards disability and para-athletes in general.
The IOA was supposed to provide details of the country's vaccinated athletes to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by May 27 and had asked the national federations to share the information.
Sumit Antil clinched a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games javelin throw F64 event with a world record effort of 73.29m.
Sports Minister hands over trophies to 2020 National Sports Awards winners
The gold medal winners were given a cash award of Rs 30 lakh each, while silver and bronze medallists took home Rs 20 lakh and Rs 10 lakh respectively.
Sharath is the lone Khel Ratna award recipient, 25 sportspersons, including shuttlers Lakshya Sen, HS Prannoy, woman boxer Nikhat Zareen, track and field athletes Eldhose Paul and Avinash Sable, were conferred with the Arjuna Award.
Among other sportspersons, KT Irfan, PU Chitra, 19 other athletes test negative while the health of one positive athlete being monitored at SAI Bengaluru.
The ceremony is set in a 'Para Airport' -- a symbol of diversity and inclusion -- and began with a video that depicted the strength of para-athletes.
Thakur lauded her and all others who finished on the podium, presenting them with mementos to honour their feats.
A student of Delhi's Ramjas College, Antil was an able-bodied wrestler before his accident. A para athlete in his village initiated him to the sport in 2018.
Star para athlete Devendra Jhajharia was named for the prestigious Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honour in the country while Olympic gold winning javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was among eight sportspersons named for the Padma Shri.
Devendra Jhajharia, on Tuesday became the first para athlete to receive India's highest sporting honour -- Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna -- along with hockey star Sardar Singh, who has endured trying times off the field in the last one year.
Ukrainian athletes were given a warm welcome in Beijing as the Winter Paralympics opened
P Anitha, Madhavan Nambiar, Sudha Hari Narayan Singh, Virender Singh, and KY Venkatesh have also been awarded the prestigious award.
A top official of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) said that the para-athletes were initially denied entry when they arrived at the Games Village as the Sports Ministry had not till then cleared funds to the tune of US$2.5 lakh.
'Instead of making this a four-year phenomenon, when you look at us and get thrilled, do it more regularly.'
Deepa Malik became the first Indian woman para-athlete and the oldest to be conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award
An unprecedented 11 athletes were selected for the country's highest sporting honour.
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu also congratulated the para athletes for bringing glory to the country.
Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra on Monday hailed Devendra Jhajharia after the javelin thrower won a stupendous third Paralympic medal in Tokyo.
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.
Devendra Jhajharia and Sundar Singh Gurjar continued India's splendid showing in athletics at the Tokyo Paralympics by winning the silver and bronze medal respectively in the men's javelin throw F46 event in Tokyo on Monday.
The Paralympics Committee of India (PCI) has sacked its president Rajesh Tomar for the gross mismanagement at the recent National Para-Athletics Championship in Ghaziabad, where athletes suffered due to lack of proper facilities.
Javelin thrower Tek Chand will be India's flag-bearer at the Tokyo Paralympics opening ceremony after Thangavelu Mariyappan, who was initially named as flag-bearer, was quarantined following close contact with a COVID-19 positive person on their flight to Tokyo.
The Paralympic Committee of India on Wednesday washed its hands off the reported incident of a blind para-swimmer being left to fend for herself in Berlin, saying the sanctioned amount could not be distributed due to the non-availability of court-appointed committee chairman.
Shah Rukh Khan said all individuals are 'incomplete' in their own way despite any amount of 'power and stardom' as he wished the Indian Paralympic Contingent for the Asian Para Games 2018 at their send-off ceremony.
The International Paralympic Committee has suspended the Paralympic Committee of India for indefinite period for infighting within the national body and shoddy treatment meted out to athletes during the National Para-Athletics Championships at Ghaziabad last month.
India's discus thrower Vinod Kumar on Monday lost his F52 category bronze medal at the Tokyo Paralympics after being found ineligible in disability classification assessment by the competition panel.
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.
Out of these 148 athletes, 17 have got both the doses and 131 have received their first shot.
Indian para athletes clinched five medals, including one gold, at the second Kuwait International Open Athletics Championship and so far booked four Paralympic quota places.
Neeraj Chopra launches outreach programme, interacts with students from 75 schools
India's ODI vice-captain Rohit Sharma dedicated his Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award to all his fans for their unwavering support, saying this "wouldn't have been possible" without them.
Zakai Khudadadi, a Taekwondo athlete, and track athlete Hossain Rasouli were evacuated from the Afghan capital a week ago and landed in Tokyo on a flight from Paris.
She is the first Indian woman to win a medal in Paralympic Games.
Gurjar came up with his season's best effort of 61.22m to claim the top spot.
Deepa Malik, who won the silver medal at the Rio 2016 Paralympics, said she is happy to see Bhavinaben Patel carry forward her legacy of winning a medal at the Games.
Women's hockey team captain Rani Rampal and men's skipper Manpreet Singh also wished the paralympians.
Unlike the Olympics that was widely covered, the Rio Paralympics set to begin tomorrow will not have any television coverage in India as it failed to attract any national broadcasters after a city-based NGO on Tuesday highlighted the "discrimination" of the para athletes. With no television coverage, a city-based NGO who works with the para athletes today highlighted the plight of the para athletes in India and appealed for proper media coverage to give the athletes their due credit
