Paris Paralympics | Five Indian athletes who symbolise triumph of spirit and resilience

With an impressive medal tally of 29, the Indian contingent produced their best performance at the Paralympics this year.

Interestingly, the Indian squad was aiming to breach the 25-medal mark ahead of the mega event but they achieved the target with a few days left for the culmination of the Paralympics. India’s medal tally included 7 gold, 9 silver and 13 bronze medals. India’s previous best was 19 medals which came in 2021 at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.

India’s journey at the Paris Paralympics was marked by quite a few historic moments as Harvinder Singh became the first Indian archer to win an individual gold medal at the games.

The Federal takes you through some of the spirited performances by Indian athletes who displayed remarkable resilience and unflinching focus all through the mega sporting event to bring laurels to the country.

Harvinder Singh

The 33-year-old from Haryana, who scripted history by becoming the first Indian archer to win a Paralympic gold, has impaired legs owing to a dengue treatment gone wrong when he was just one year old but instead of lamenting his fate, he chose to become bigger than his circumstances.

Harvinder's consistency and his monk-like demeanour ensured that he lost no more than three points in each of his matches. The archer, who started taking interest in the sport after watching the action on TV during London Olympics, said that he felt "blessed".

Hailing from a family of farmers from Ajit Nagar in Haryana, Harvinder faced significant adversity early in life. When he was just one and a half years old, he contracted dengue and due to the side effects of some injections administered to him, both his legs were left impaired.

Despite this early challenge, he found a passion for archery after getting inspiration from 2012 London Paralympics. He made his debut at the 2017 Para Archery World Championship, finishing seventh.

It was followed by a gold medal at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Para Games. During the COVID-19 lockdown, his father turned their farm into an archery range to support his training.

Earlier too, Harvinder made history by winning India's first ever archery medal, a bronze, at the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago.

Sheetal Devi

Armless archer Sheetal Devi scripted history at the Paris Paralympics 2024, clinching bronze medal in the mixed team compound archery event, along with her partner Rakesh Sharma. The Indian pair defeated Italy's Matteo Bonacina and Eleonora Sarti 156-155.

Sheetal also became the first Indian woman to win an archery medal at the quadrennial showpiece. She was one of the main attractions of the compound archery event.

A silver medallist at last year's world championships, Sheetal was the only armless archer in the Paris Paralympics. The crowd loved the spirit and courage of the 17-year-old Indian archer, who was making her debut at the Games.

Sheetal left the crowd in awe when she began her pre-quarterfinal match against Mariana Zuniga with a perfect 10. A video clip of Sheetal Devi's perfect 10 went viral on social media with several praising her incredible ability to shoot the arrows with her legs, jaw and shoulders.

Sheetal was born with a condition called phocomelia, which led to her being born without arms. She was born in Jammu and Kashmir in 2007. In 2019, she was spotted by the Indian Army's Rashtriya Rifles unit, who supported her with education and medical help.

Prosthetics weren't possible for her, but she showed expertise in climbing trees using her legs. Within 11 months of training, she participated in the women's compound event at the 2022 Asian Para Games, and grabbed two gold medals. She won two gold medals in mixed doubles and women's individual, after clinching silver in women's double compound. She is the first and only international para-archery champion without upper limbs.

Navdeep Singh

The 23-year-old Indian javelin thrower won an unparalleled gold in the F41 classification at the Paris Paralympic Games.

Navdeep Singh, who suffered from dwarfism, endured not just the usual rigours of training but cruel taunts from onlookers while growing up in his village in Haryana's Panipat district.

Having turned those taunts into his biggest triumph on sport's grandest stage, the four feet four inches tall para athlete said, “Hamein bhi utna darja milna chahiye, maine bhi desh ka naam roshan kiya hai (We deserve the same respect, I too have brought glory to the country).”

“My aim is to educate society that we also exist in this world and nobody should make fun of us, which is often the case. We also can make our country proud. There were a lot of hurdles initially but I kept at it and strengthened myself, which led to good results. This is the biggest moment of my life, I feel proud to sign off with a gold medal,” he added.

Born prematurely in 2000, Navdeep's struggles began from the start. It wasn't until he was two years old that his parents realised their son had dwarfism, setting the stage for a life filled with both struggles and triumphs.

His father, Dalbir Singh, a national-level wrestler, kept motivating him and saw his son as an extension of his own aspirations.

Navdeep started his athletic journey at the age of 10, dabbling in wrestling and sprinting before finding his true calling in javelin throw after being inspired by national icon Neeraj Chopra.

Hokato Hotozhe Sema

Twenty two years after the armyman lost his left leg to a landmine blast during a counterterror operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Chowkibal, Havaldar Hokato Hotozhe Sema won a battle on the sports field, clinching a bronze medal at the Paris Paralympics.

The 40-year-old from Dimapur produced a career-best throw of 14.65m, securing a podium finish in the men’s F57 category shot put final. The F57 classification involves athletes with limb deficiency, leg length difference, impaired muscle power or impaired range of movement.

An unexpected explosion in October 2002 ended the ambition of Havildar Sema to join the Special Forces. That landmine blast during an anti-terrorist operation claimed his left leg below the knee, inflicting immense physical pain and mental trauma.

Sema's world went dark, or everyone thought so. But for him, it was the beginning of an extraordinary journey of resilience, courage, and fierce determination to rebuild life -- a process he went through at the Army Paralympic Node, BEG Centre in Pune.

His rise in para-athletics has been nothing short of inspiring. He quickly distinguished himself with his sheer willpower in the F57 category, which includes athletes with limb deficiencies and impaired muscle power. He narrowly missed a medal at the 2024 World Championships, finishing fourth.

Preethi Pal

Preethi Pal created history as she became the first Indian woman track and field athlete to win two medals at the Paralympics.

She bagged a bronze in the 200m T35 category with a personal best time of 30.01 seconds. She also won a bronze in the 100m T35 category.

She also became only the second Indian woman to win two medals -- both bronze -- in a single Paralympics after shooter Avani Lekhara who won a gold and a bronze in Tokyo three years ago.

A farmer's daughter from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, Preethi faced significant physical challenges when she was born as her lower body was plastered for six days after birth. Weak legs and an irregular leg posture made her prone to various diseases. She underwent various traditional treatments to strengthen her legs, including wearing calipers for eight years from the age of five.

At 17, Preethi's perspective began to change when she watched the Paralympic Games on social media. But her life-changing moment came when she met Paralympic athlete Fatima Khatoon, who introduced her to para-athletics.

With Fatima's support, Preethi competed in the state championships and national events from 2018 onwards. She qualified for the Asian Para Games last year in China, where she finished fourth in both the 100m and 200m sprints.

She moved to Delhi to train under coach Gajender Singh and fine-tuned her running techniques, leading to her winning a bronze medal each in 100m and 200m in World Para Athletics Championships.