Asian Para Games: Para athletes end with 111 medals

PTI

Hangzhou, October 28

India’s para athletes created history today as they ended their Hangzhou Asian Para Games campaign with an unprecedented 111 medals, the biggest haul for the country in any major international multi-sport event.

With 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze in their kitty, the Indian para athletes won four medals more than the record tally of 107 won by the able-bodied athletes in the Asian Games. India ended at fifth place in the medal tally. The first Para Asian Games were held in 2010 in Guangzhou, where India had finished 15th with 14 medals, including one gold. Four year later, India had finished ninth. India won 39 more medals than their haul in the 2018 edition.

On the concluding day, India added 12 medals, including four gold. Seven medals came from chess, four from athletics and one from rowing.

Neeraj Yadav began the day with a gold in the men’s javelin throw F55 event with a Games record of 33.69 metres. Compatriot Tek Chand clinched the bronze with a personal best of 30.36m. Neeraj was diagnosed with Post-Polio Residual Paralysis at the age of seven but he always had the inclination towards sports and played wheelchair tennis from 2005 to 2012. The 39-year-old had claimed a gold in javelin throw in the Asian para Games in 2018.

Dilip Mahadu Gaviot added another athletics gold, winning the men’s 400m T47 race with a time of 49.48 seconds. The 20-year-old was only four when he had lost his right arm in an accident.

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