The Impact of the Paralympic Games on Society

The Paralympic Games is a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities and is organized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Summer and Winter Games are held every four years. Like the Olympics, Paralympic sports are held throughout a couple of weeks and include competitors with a wide variety of physical disabilities.

Para is from the Greek, meaning “alongside,” and Paralympic comes into English via this Hellenism. It all means that the Paralympics desire to occur in pair with the Olympic Games. In the Paralympics, the intent is to highlight the physical prowess of disabled persons, break stereotypes, and encourage greater social inclusion.

Murlikant Petkar, India’s first-ever Paralympic gold medal by winning the men’s 50m freestyle swimming in a world record time of 37.331 seconds at the Summer Games on this day in 1972.
In 1984, Joginder Singh Bedi won three medals (2 silver,1 bronze ) in a track and field event which remains the only instance of an Indian winning more than one medal at the same Paralympic games.
Devendra Jhajharia, now the president of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), is an Indian who has won 3 gold medals in the Paralympics. Won gold in javelin throw at Athens 2004, Rio 2016 – where he set a world record – Mariyappan went on to win silver at Tokyo2020.
India had first medalled in archery, badminton, shooting, and table tennis at the Paralympics only courtesy of Tokyo 2020.
The 84-strong Paralympic contingent — the largest ever from India and spread across 12 sports at Kyoto Games will also officially be launched shortly to better its Tokyo medal tally of 19.
Avani Lekhara wins GOLD and new Paralympic record in women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1, Mona Agarwal clinches silver as India kicks off Paris 2024 Paralympics campaign with a bang

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List of India Medals at Paralympics Olympics 2024

Player Name	Sport	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Avani Lekhara	Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1	1
Mona Agarwal	Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1			1
Manish Narwal	Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1		1
Preethi Pal	Women’s 100m-T35			1
Total Medal Count				4

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🏅 Gold Medal Glory! 🏅

Avani Lekhara shines bright as she clinches the gold medal in the R2 Women 10m Air Rifle SH1 event with a record-breaking score of 249.7.

A truly remarkable performance that makes the entire nation proud! 🇮🇳✨#GoldMedal #Champion #ParaShooting… pic.twitter.com/5hESkSgu4v
— Paralympic Committee of India (@PCI_IN_Official) August 30, 2024

Growth of Paralympic sports in India

The Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) was founded in 1992, known then as the Physically Handicapped Sports Federation of India to develop sports and facilitate different sporting activities for people with various disabilities.

India has delivered commendable performances at the Paralympic Games, especially in the 2016 Rio Paralympics. They clinched their highest-ever medal tally of four medals; two golds. The biggest medal haul at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. India collected 19 medals, 5 of them gold also made a statement that this record will surely be broken in the future.

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The Indian government has provided valuable support in terms of financial aid, infrastructure, and recognition to para-athletes enabling them at venues like the Olympics.

National Paralympic Committee of India (NPCI): It has been an important committee in facilitating the Paralympian events and looking after welfare needs.

There has certainly been better media coverage of Paralympic sports in recent times. Spread more awareness and public support this can only help spur interest among potential participants.

Indian Paralympic athletes were successful on international platforms, hence motivating children to participate in Para-sports.

There is an ongoing effort to grow Paralympic sports at both club and school levels. This will provide a steady wave of potential athletes in the future.

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All-time Paralympic Games Medal Table

Athlete	Medal	Event	Games
Murlikant Petkar	Gold	Swimming, Men’s 50m freestyle 3	Heidelberg 1972
Bhimrao Kesarkar	Silver	Men’s javelin throw L6	Stoke Mandeville/New York 1984
Joginder Singh Bedi	Bronze	Men’s javelin throw L6	Stoke Mandeville/New York 1984
Joginder Singh Bedi	Silver	Men’s shot put L6	Stoke Mandeville/New York 1984
Joginder Singh Bedi	Bronze	Men’s discus throw L6	Stoke Mandeville/New York 1984
Devendra Jhajharia	Gold	Men’s javelin throw F44/46	Athens 2004
Rajinder Singh Rahelu	Bronze	Men’s 56 kg	Athens 2004
Girisha N Gowda	Silver	Men’s high jump F42	London 2012
Mariyappan Thangavelu	Gold	Men’s high jump F42	Rio 2016
Varun Singh Bhati	Bronze	Men’s high jump F42	Rio 2016
Devendra Jhajharia	Gold	Men’s javelin throw F46	Rio 2016
Deepa Malik	Silver	Women’s shot put F53	Rio 2016
Bhavina Patel	Silver	Women’s singles table tennis Class 4	Tokyo 2020
Nishad Kumar	Silver	Men’s high jump T47	Tokyo 2020
Avani Lekhara	Gold	Women’s 10m air rifle shooting standing SH1	Tokyo 2020
Devendra Jhajharia	Silver	Men’s javelin throw F46	Tokyo 2020
Sundar Singh Gurjar	Bronze	Men’s javelin throw F46	Tokyo 2020
Yogesh Kathuniya	Silver	Men’s discus throw F56	Tokyo 2020
Sumit Antil	Gold	Men’s javelin throw F64	Tokyo 2020
Singhraj Adhana	Bronze	Men’s 10m air pistol shooting SH1	Tokyo 2020
Mariyappan Thangavelu	Silver	Men’s high jump T42	Tokyo 2020
Sharad Kumar	Bronze	Men’s high jump T42	Tokyo 2020
Praveen Kumar	Silver	Men’s high jump T64	Tokyo 2020
Avani Lekhara	Bronze	Women’s 50m rifle 3 positions SH1	Tokyo 2020
Harvinder Singh	Bronze	Men’s individual recurve – open archery	Tokyo 2020
Manish Narwal	Gold	Men’s 50m pistol SH1	Tokyo 2020
Singhraj Adhana	Silver	Men’s 50m pistol SH1	Tokyo 2020
Pramod Bhagat	Gold	Men’s singles badminton SL3	Tokyo 2020
Manoj Sarkar	Bronze	Men’s singles badminton SL3	Tokyo 2020
Suhas Yathiraj	Silver	Men’s singles badminton SL4	Tokyo 2020
Krishna Nagar	Gold	Men’s singles badminton SH6	Tokyo 2020
Avani Lekhara	Gold	Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1	Paris 2024
Mona Agarwal	Bronze	Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1	Paris 2024
Manish Narwal	Silver	Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1	Paris 2024
Preethi Pal	Bronze	Women’s 100m-T35	Paris 2024

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Impact of Paralympics on Youth

The Paralympics are designed to promote human ability and have inspired hundreds of thousands of young people. Eourage to take up sporting activities and test themselves against their limits.

The Paralympics opens the door for everyone should have a chance to play sports, regardless of their abilities. Allows them who inspire us with what they can do in sports we themselves could never dream possible.

Seeing our Paralympians rise above all the odds and win some impossible medal can motivate young people to become confident. Resilient individuals who have a positive attitude toward life.

The Paralympics regularly showcase some of the most formative adaptations and technologies. By requiring contestants to compete equally with others, the Paralympics foster creativity and guide younger generations toward innovative solutions to difficult questions.

The Paralympics unite many nation’s athletes and help young people to learn a better understanding of respect, and global citizenship.

Paralympic athletes are great ambassadors. Their action leaves a trace as they pass that hard work, dedication, and perseverance can create miracles despite adversities.

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Paris Paralympic Games 2024 Schedule

Aug/Sep 2024	August				September								Events
Aug/Sep 2024	28th Wed	29th Thu	30thFri	31st Sat	1st Sun	2nd Mon	3rd Tue	4th Wed	5thThu	6thFri	7th Sat	8thSun	Events
Ceremonies	OC											CC	—
Boccia		●	●	●	2	6	●	●	3				11
Football 5-a-side					●	●	●		●		1		1
Goalball		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	2				2
Para archery		●	●	2	2	2	1	1	1				9
Para-athletics			14	18	19	13	24	15	19	16	22	4	164
Para badminton		●	●	●	2	14							16
Para canoe										●	5	5	10
Para-cycling	Road							19	6	4	5		34
Para-cycling	Track	4	5	4	4								17
Para-Equestrian							3	2		1	5		11
Para judo									5	5	6		16
Para powerlifting								4	4	4	4	4	20
Para rowing			●	●	5								5
Para-swimming		15	14	15	14	13	15	12	13	15	15		141
Para table tennis		●	2	5	3	●	1	3	5	5	7		31
Para taekwondo		3	4	3									10
Para triathlon					7	4							11
Shooting para sport			3	2	2	1	2	2	1				13
Sitting volleyball		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1	1		2
Wheelchair basketball		●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1	1	2
Wheelchair fencing							4	4	2	4	2		16
Wheelchair rugby		●	●	●	●	1							1
Wheelchair tennis			●	●	●	●	●	1	2	2	1		6
Daily medal events	0	22	42	49	60	54	50	63	63	57	75	14	549

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Positives About the Paralympic Games

These games provide a platform for para-athletes which showcase their exceptional skills, and bring change in the mindsets of people. About how they see disabled individuals and also promote inclusivity within society.
It is motivational, inspiring both youth and individuals. With disabilities to overcome obstacles in life, and pursue their dreams, while also striving for excellence.
Paralympics are one way of raising public awareness and care about disability issues, accessibility & equal opportunities.
The Paralympics are an example of how athletes with disabilities perform some impressive tasks. It shows the capacity of humans.
The Paralympics promote participation in sport and physical activity enabling people with disabilities to be healthy.

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The Paralympic Games Are Far From Perfect

Limited Media Coverage While the Paralympics have become increasingly popular in recent years. They tend to receive less attention from the media compared with the Olympics.
Several Paralympic athletes and organizations tend to face funding challenges. Which dampens their abilities from training, and competing products in order to reach the very best.
There has been some improvement but an overwhelming majority of para-sport venues/facilities. Largely inaccessible, causing difficulties for athletes as well as visiting spectators.
Despite progress in increasing inclusion of people with disabilities, stigma is still prevalent. Which can further alienate individuals living with impairments when participating in sports or society generally.
The recognition and celebration of Paralympic athletes and their achievements in some countries fall short of that given to Olympic athletes, creating a sense of inferiority among them.

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