Tokyo Paralympics: From 12 Medals To 31, India Just Had Its Best Paralympic Performance

Paralympic Games: In the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, India won five gold, eight silver, and six bronze medals. Summary of India's best Paralympic Games so far.

In picture - India's gold medalists at Tokyo Paralympics! Image: Twitter/ @Tokyo2020hi

Tokyo Paralympics: When team India started their Paralympic Games campaign in Tokyo this year, very little was being talked about. India never had a strong presence at the Paralympics and only had 12 medals overall even though it has been participating in the Games since 1968. 

India's medal tally of 12 rose to a whopping 31 this year as Indian athletes grabbed 19 medals in total at the Tokyo Paralympics 2020.

This is India's best performance at the Paralympics. The previous best came in the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games when India won four medals, including two gold medals. Even in the 1984 New York Games, India had won four medals, but there was no gold medal. 

After winning four medals in New York, Indian athletes returned home without any medal from Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta, and Sydney Paralympics. Javelin thrower Devendra Jhajaria, who also won a silver medal this year, has previously won two gld medals for India — one at the 2004 Athens Games and the other at the 2016 Rio Games. 

In 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, India won five gold, eight silver, and six bronze medals. India's para-athlete, Deepa Malik, who won a silver medal in 2016, congratulated team India on winning 19 medals and expressed confidence that they will come out stronger in 2024.

Indian para-sports were in infancy till Rio2016. Now we have reached the last of our teens-NINETEEN it is @Tokyo2020. We'll enter adulthood by 2024 & be stronger! Thank u for holding our hand in our baby steps. Love & gratitude from @ParalympicIndia to entire 🇮🇳& our Host #Tokyo pic.twitter.com/QlOzq2KB3r

— Deepa Malik (@DeepaAthlete) September 5, 2021

India's Avani Lekhara won a gold and bronze medal in shooting that made her the only Indian woman to have won two Paralympic medals. 

#WATCH | Japan: 19-year-old shooter Avani Lekhara, who won gold & bronze medals at the Tokyo Paralympics, led the Indian contingent during the closing ceremony of the Games

(Video courtesy: Paralympic Committee of India President Deepa Malik's Twitter account) pic.twitter.com/cIRqzeilzf

— ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2021

India's Medal Winners At Tokyo Paralympics

Gold Medalists: Avani Lekhara, Sumit Antil, Manish Narwal, Pramod Bhagat, Krishna Nagar

Silver Medalists: Bhavina Patel, Nishad Kumar, Yogesh Kathuniya, Devendra Jhajharia, Mariyappan Thangavelu, Praveen Kumar 

Bronze Medalists: Sundar Singh Gurjar, Singhraj Adhana, Sharad Kumar, Avani Lekhara, Harvinder Singh, Manoj Sarkar