India competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. The nation made its official debut at the 1968 Summer Paralympics and has appeared in every edition of the Summer Paralympics since 1984. This is India's 11th appearance at the Summer Paralympics.
India sent its largest ever delegation for the Summer Paralympic Games consisting of 19 athletes competing across five sports. Devendra Jhajharia was the flag bearer during the opening ceremony and Mariyappan Thangavelu carried the Indian flag during the closing ceremony. The Games also marked India's best ever performance at the Paralympics till then with four medals including one gold, one silver and two bronze medals.
Background The Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) was formed in 1994, five years after the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) was established in 1989. The ninth International Stoke Mandville Games was later designated as the first Paralympics in 1960. The International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation organized the Paralympic Games till 1984. The 1988 Seoul Paralympics was the first to use the Paralympics name and the event has been held in the same host city as the corresponding Summer Olympic Games since then.
The nation made its Paralympics debut in 1968 and have appeared in every edition of the Summer Paralympic Games since 1984. This edition of the Games marked the nation's 11th appearance at the Summer Paralympics. Devendra Jhajharia was the flag bearer during the opening ceremony and Mariyappan Thangavelu carried the Indian flag during the closing ceremony.
Disability classification
Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories; amputation, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including blindness; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis.
Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Some sports, such as athletics, divide athletes by both the category and severity of their disabilities, other sports, for example swimming, group competitors from different categories together, the only separation being based on the severity of the disability.
Medallists
The Games also marked India's best ever performance at the Paralympics till then with four medals including one gold, one silver and two bronze medals. Mariyappan Thangavelu won the first gold medal in the Men's high jump T42 event. Devendra Jhajharia won the other gold medal in the Men's javelin throw F46 event, breaking the World Record in the process. Deepa Malik and Varun Bhati were the other medalists with a silver and bronze medal respectively.
+Medalists Medal Name Sport Event Date GoldMariyappan ThangaveluAthleticsMen's High Jump T429 September GoldDevendra JhajhariaAthleticsMen's Javelin Throw F4614 September SilverDeepa MalikAthleticsWomen's Shot Put- F5312 September BronzeVarun BhatiAthletics Men's High Jump T429 September
+Medals by sportSportGoldSilverBronzeTotal Athletics2114Total2114
Medals by dayDayDateGoldSilverBronzeTotal39 September 1 0 12612 September 0 1 01814 September 10 01Total2114
+Medals by genderGenderGoldSilverBronzeTotalMale1113Female0101Total2114
Competitors India sent its largest ever delegation for the Summer Paralympic Games consisting of 19 athletes competing across five sports.
SportMenWomenTotalEvents Archery0111 Athletics1321511 Powerlifting1011 Swimming1011 Shooting 1011Total1631915
Archery
India achieved one berth in Women's individual recurve archery event after Pooja Khanna secured fifth-place finish in the final Paralympic qualifier held in Czechia and became first Indian para archer to qualify for the Paralympic Games.
|Pooja Khanna |Women's recurve individual |513 |29 | L 2–6 | colspan="5"
Athletics
About 15 Indian athletes achieved the qualifying standard for the Games.
Track events AthleteEventHeatFinalResultRankResultRankAnkur DhamaMen's 1500 m T114:37:602 colspan="2"
Field events AthleteEventsResultRankMariyappan ThangaveluMen's high jump T421.89Varun Singh Bhati1.86 Sharad Kumar1.776Ram Pal ChaharMen's high jump T471.93 6Devendra JhajhariaMen's javelin throw F4663.97 Sundar Singh GurjarRinku Hooda54.39 5Ranbir NarenderMen's javelin throw F42-4453.79 6Sandeep Chaudhary54.30 4Virender DhankarMen's javelin throw F5735.739Men's shot put F5711.628Amit Kumar SarohaMen's discus throw F51/529.017Men's club throw F5126.634Dharambir21.399Deepa MalikWomen's shot put F534.61 Karamjyoti DalalWomen's discus throw F55
Powerlifting
India has one berth in the men's event after Farman Basha secured a place in the World Ranking list as of 29 February 2016.
AthleteEventWeight lifted (kg)RankFarman BashaMen's 49 kg1404
Shooting
Naresh Sharma earned a qualifying berth for India in the last Paralympic qualifier event held at the 2015 IPC Shooting World Cup in Fort Benning, United States.
AthleteEventQualificationFinalScoreRankScoreRankNaresh SharmaMen's 10m air rifle standing SH1583.021rowspan="4" colspan="2" Mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1606.544Men's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1109422Mixed 50m rifle prone SH1591.040
Swimming
Indian swimmer Suyash Jadhav achieved the 'A' qualifying mark in the finals of Men's 50m Butterfly S7 event at the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports World Games 2015.
AthleteEventHeatFinalTimeRankTimeRankSuyash JadhavMen's 50 m freestyle S731.585 rowspan="3" colspan="2" Men's 50m butterfly S733.635Men's 200m Individual Medley- SM73:01:056
See also India at the 2016 Summer Olympics
References