"Para athletes breaking barriers, setting new benchmarks": PM Narendra Modi on WPAC 2025 opening ceremony

New Delhi [India], September 25 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that hosting the New Delhi 2025 World Para Athletics Championships will reiterate India as a "sporting and inclusive" nation to the world.

The opening ceremony of the WPAC 2025 was held at the iconic Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

In a special message welcoming around 2,200 participants from 100 nations, PM Modi said, "By breaking barriers and setting new benchmarks, para athletes have played a vital role in strengthening India's identity as a rising sporting hub, motivating millions to embrace sports as a way of life."

India is the fourth Asian nation, after Qatar (2015), the UAE (2019), and Japan (2024), to host the world Para Athletics Championships. The event is being organised by the Paralympics Committee of India, as per a release from the Sports Ministry.

Saying India was "proud" to host the WPAC 2025, PM Modi said, "Sport has a great way of connecting people, transcending all barriers of religion, region and nationality. In today's world, it is all the more important to emphasise this unifying aspect of sport. I am sure the WPAC will have a similar impact on all the participants and spectators."

The colourful opening ceremony was attended by the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Raksha Khadse, the Chief Minister of Delhi, Rekha Gupta, Member of Parliament Kangana Ranaut, the Education Minister of Delhi, Ashish Sood, Paul Fitzgerald, the head of World Para Athletics.

The WPAC will be the first event on the newly-laid Mondo track at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The track, in shades of blue and used at the Paris Paralympics 2024, was inaugurated by Mandaviya on August 29, which is celebrated as National Sports Day. On Thursday, at the stadium complex, Mandaviya also inaugurated a Mondo warm-up track and a multi-speciality gymnasium where more than 200 athletes can train simultaneously.

"For India, this World Para Athletics Championship is about pride, progress, and purpose. We have assembled our largest-ever para contingent of 74 athletes, a testament to how deeply para-sports have taken root in the country. Champions such as Sumit Antil, Preethi Pal, Deepthi Jeevanji, Dharambir Nain, and Praveen Kumar will compete on home ground," said Mandaviya, who declared the WPAC open.

The WPAC events start on September 27. One hundred and eighty-six gold medals will be up for grabs.

Fitzgerald said, "Spectators inside the stadium and a global audience around the world will experience the brilliance of the athletes competing in newly renovated facilities designed to maximise their skill, speed and strength. Yes, world records will be broken. Yes, world champions will be crowned. But not every athlete will achieve their dream of being on the podium with their national anthem playing. There will be many triumphs but also many disappointments. I invite everyone to experience all of the emotions with the athletes."

Hosting the WPAC is part of India's plans to host global events regularly and test its capabilities to stage bigger multi-sport championships. Mandaviya said, "We are deep into planning for the Commonwealth Games 2030, and we have our eyes set on hosting the Olympic Games in 2036 with ambitions that will accelerate infrastructure, opportunity, and the sporting dreams of countless youth. As the Prime Minister has said, "Sport not only creates champions; it also promotes peace, progress and wellness." That is the guiding light of our sporting journey."

Mandaviya also said that the WPAC will boost capacity building. He said, "Yet beyond infrastructure or ambition lies a deeper legacy: a transformed mind-set. We will leave behind accessible venues, stronger support systems for para-athletes, and a renewed national conversation around equal opportunity in sport. These are the true outcomes that will endure long after the medals have been awarded."

India's top athletes, many of them Paralympic medallists and world champions in their categories, relish home conditions at the Nehru Stadium.

In Kobe, Japan, India delivered its best-ever performance at the World Para Athletics Championships, winning 17 medals -- six gold, five silver, and six bronze -- to finish 6th overall. In the 2023 edition in Paris, India had already broken its earlier record by winning 10 medals (3 gold, four silver, three bronze), setting the stage for what followed.

PM Modi lauded India's rising dominance in para sports.

"The remarkable performances of para athletes have redefined the meaning of resilience and determination, inspiring both sportspersons and common people across the world. Their achievements have ignited a collective belief that no challenge is insurmountable." (ANI)

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