Kapil Parmar, a visually impaired judo athlete, made history by becoming India‘s first Paralympic medallist in judo, securing a bronze in the men’s 60kg (J1) category. Parmar, 24, dominated his opponent, Brazil’s Elielton de Oliveira, with a decisive 10-0 victory in the bronze medal play-off, marking a memorable Paralympic debut.
This triumph brought India’s medal tally at the Games to 25, including five gold, nine silver, and 11 bronze medals. The Paralympic Committee of India had set a target of winning at least 25 medals, a goal that the country’s inspiring para-athletes successfully achieved with more opportunities still ahead.
Close misses for India on Day 8
Individual gold medallist Harvinder Singh, along with partner Pooja Jatyan, came close to securing a bronze in the mixed team recurve open event but narrowly lost in a shoot-off to Slovenia’s Ziva Lavrinc and Dejan Fabcic, 4-5, in the play-off.
After making history by becoming India’s first archery gold medallist, Harvinder was poised for another podium finish. The Indian pair led 4-2 going into the final set, but the Slovenian duo fought back to level the score. In the decisive shoot-off, Lavrinc and Fabcic clinched the victory, leaving Harvinder and Pooja just short of a second medal.
India’s Simran Sharma narrowly missed out on a medal in the women’s 100m T12 final at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, finishing fourth with a time of 12.31 seconds. Accompanied by her guide Abhay Singh, the 24-year-old fell just short of the podium in a closely contested race.
Cuba’s Omara Durand Elias, running with guide Yuniol Kindelan, claimed gold with a dominant time of 11.81 seconds. Ukraine’s Oksana Boturchuk, alongside guide Mykata Barabanov, won silver in 12.17 seconds, while Germany‘s Katrin Mueller and her guide Noel-Phillippe Fiener secured the bronze with a time of 12.26 seconds, just edging out Simran for the final podium spot. In Chateauroux, Indian shooters Mona Agarwal and Sidhartha Babu fell short of reaching the final in the mixed 50m rifle prone (SH1) competition. Mona Agarwal, a bronze medallist in the 10m air rifle (SH1) event earlier at the Games, finished 30th with a total score of 610.5 over six series. Meanwhile, Sidhartha Babu, who had previously placed 28th in the mixed 10m air rifle prone (SH1) qualification, also struggled to improve his performance, finishing 22nd with an aggregate score of 615.8.
India made a disappointing finish to the day after Aravind finished sixth in the men’s shot put F35 event with a season’s best throw of 13.01. India are currently 16th in the medal’s tally with 25 medals, including five gold, nine silver and 11 bronze.