Paralympics and Winter Olympics India’s Paralympic Success

⇒ The Indian team bagged 19 medals (5 Gold, 8 Silver and 6 Bronze). India recorded their best-ever Paralympic performance by finishing 24th in the overall medals tally. For a country starved of sporting excellence, other than in cricket, the success at the Games will be etched in history as a corner stone for a new era.

⇒ 19-year-old Avani Lekhara was a surprise package in the strong and largest contingent till date of 54 Para athletes, and she gave the kickstart by firing in a gold in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 shooting.

⇒ Another youngster, 23-year-old Sumit Antil, put everything behind his javelin to break multiple world records en route to gold. His best throw of 68 85m in F64 made enough noise to awaken the sleeping giant India with an explosion of joy.

⇒ More gold rush came with another teen Manish Narwal showing his sharp shooting abilities in the mixed 50m pistol SH1 amassing 218.2 points to set a Paralympic record. India was so dominant in the event that they cliched the top two spots with Singhraj Adana settling for silver.

⇒ Para shuttlers Pramod Bhagat and Krishna Nagar added more golds to India’s medals tally with victories in the men’s singles SL3 and SH6 events, respectively.

⇒ First Ever Gold for India India’s Devendra created history by winning the first ever gold for the country in Athens Paralympics 2004. He claimed gold in Javelin throw.

⇒ The first Games for disabled athletes were held in 1948 in Stoke Mandeville, England. On the day of the Opening Ceremony of the 1948 Olympic Games in London, the Stoke Mandeville Games were also launched and the first competition for wheelchair-bound athletes was organized.

⇒ Olympic style Games for athletes with disability were organized for the first time in Rome in 1960, immediately after the Olympic Games. They are considered the first Paralympic Games.

⇒ Since then, Paralympic Games have been organized after every four years. The Paralympic Games have always been held in the same year as the Olympic Games.

⇒ Other disability groups were added in Toronto (Canada) in 1976 and the idea of merging together different disability groups for international sports competitions, was conceived. In the same year, the first Paralympic Winter Games took place in Sweden.

⇒ The name of Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games SOMEITY comes from “Someiyoshino”-a popular type of cherry blossom-and the phrase “so mighty”. mascot SOMEITY can show enormous mental and physical strength, representing Paralympic athletes who overcome obstacles and redefine the boundaries of possibility.

The Winter Olympic Games started in 1924 AD when the first Games were held at Chamonix, France followed by St. Moritz, Switzerland (1928 & 1948); Lake Placid, New York (1932 & 1980); Garmisch-Parthenkirchen, Germany (1936); Oslo, Norway (1952); Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy (1956);Squaw Valley, California (1960); Innsbruck, Austria (1964 & 1976); Grenoble, France (1968); Sapporo, Japan (1972); Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (1984); Calgary, Canada (1988) and Albertville, France (1992). The XVII Winter Olympic Games were held in Lilleharnmer (Norway) in February 1994. Incidentally, the 1994 Games were the first in accordance with the International Olympic Committee’s new cycle of having Winter Games and Summer Games two years apart, instead of in the same year, as had been the tradition since the commencement of these Games in 1924.

⇒ The XIX Winter Games were held in Salt Lake City (USA) in February, 2002. Germany topped in the Medals Tally winning 35 medals (including 12 Golds) while Norway finished as runner-up bagging 24 medals (11 Golds).

⇒ The XX Winter Olympics 2006 were held in Turin (Italy) in February, 2006. Germany once again topped the medals tally. The four-member Indian team was led by luge athlete Shiva Keshavan.

XXI Winter Olympics 2010 (February 12-28, 2010): This Winter Olympics was held in Vancouver, Canada in Feb., 2010. Total 2700 players of 82 countries participated.

XXII Winter Olympics 2014 (February 7-23, 2014): 22nd Winter Olympic Games at Sochi (Russia), the 17 day costlisest Olympics ever ($51 billion) of sport-driven global unity concluded on February 23, 2014. Sochi Winter Olympics 2014 saw three athletes from India, luger Shiva Keshawan (fifth consecutive participation in the Winter Olympics), Alpine skier Himanshu Thakur and cross-country skier Nadeem Iqbal represented the country.

XXIII Winter Olympics 2018 (9-25 February, 2018): Inaugurated on Feb. 9 at Pyeong Chang Olympic Plaza and concluded on Feb. 25, 2018. 23rd Winter Olympics saw two athletes from India, (i) Jagdish Singh, in Cross-Country Skiing (Men’s 15 km Free) event and (ii) Shiva Keshavan in Luge (Men’s Singles) event.

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