Javelin thrower Sumit Antil | Photo: PTI
With an unprecedented five gold medals and a dozen medals in total on the horizon, the first batch of the Indian contingent, including star javelin thrower Sumit Antil, left for the Paralympic Games in Paris to acclimatise to the conditions.
The 16 para-athletes will stay in hotels in Paris for a few days before entering the Games Village on August 25, three days before the opening ceremony.
Athletes like Antil, who is the first Indian to defend his Paralympic gold, will train at training locations near the French capital to get used to the weather conditions there.
From August 30 to September 8, the final day of the Paralympic Games, para-athletics competitions will be held at the Stade de France, the same stadium where able-bodied athletes competed in the Olympic Games in Paris.
“Sumit Antil and some other para-athletes will train for a few days at the Nelson Mandela Sports Complex before proceeding to the Games Village,” Para-athletics chief coach Satyanarayana told PTI.
Nelson Mandela Sports Complex is located approximately 5 km from Stade de France. It has state-of-the-art training facilities for athletics, rugby, tennis, wheelchair tennis and swimming.
“Some stay in hotels near the Games Village and can use the training facilities during the day,” he added.
Asked about the Indian para-athletics team’s medal chances at the Paris Games, he said: “We are aiming for at least five gold medals and a total of 12 medals. This will be our best performance at the Paralympics.”
Satyanarayana’s hopes rest on unprecedented success at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan, in May, where India finished sixth on the medal table with six gold, five silver and six bronze medals.
Antil (men’s javelin throw F64), Deepthi Jeevanji (women’s 400m T20), Sachin Khilari (men’s shot put F46), Ekta Bhyan (women’s club throw F51), Simran Sharma (women’s 200m T12) and Mariyappan Thangavelu (men’s high jump T42) won gold.
At the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games, India won a record 19 medals (5 gold, 8 silver and 6 bronze).
India will send its largest-ever team of 84 athletes across 12 sports to the Paralympic Games, including 38 from the para-athletics team.
Indian Paralympic Committee President Devendra Jhajharia predicted that at least 25 medals would be won at the Paris Games.
Antil and Bhagyashree Jadhav, who won silver at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games in women’s shot put F34, jointly carry the flag for India at the opening ceremony, which is being held outside a stadium for the first time.
The ceremony will take place from the Champs-Elysees to Place de la Concorde in the heart of Paris. The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics was also held outside a stadium, on the banks of the Seine, a first in the history of the games.
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First publication: Aug 21, 2024 | 4:05 PM IST