The largest-ever Indian Paralympic contingent left for Rio de Janeiro for next week's Summer Paralympic Games. The team of 19 athletes will be looking to better the medal haul India enjoyed at the Rio Games. This year, India have athletes participating in the Games which start on 7th September and ends on 18th September. The athletes will be competing in five sports —Athletics, Powerlifting, Shooting, Archery and Swimming. As usual, the medal hopes are in javelin throw and high jump.
So far, the country have participated in ten Paralympic Games and fetched 8 medals. Murlikant Petkar won India’s first gold in 1972 and Devendra Jhajharia scripted history with a gold in javelin throw 22 years later. Four years back, Girisha Nagarajegowda won a silver in high jump at the London Games. India's best Paralympic performance was at the Athens Games with a gold and a bronze. The contingent will surely aim to better its tally.
Here's a list of the Indian contingent:
| Name | Discipline | Event |
| Pooja | Archery | Recurve Individual |
| Ankur Dhama | Athletics | 1500m race |
| Mariyappan Thangavelu | Athletics | High Jump |
| Varun Singh Bhati | Athletics | High Jump |
| Sharad Kumar | Athletics | High Jump |
| Rampal Chahar | Athletics | High Jump |
| Karamjyoti Dalal | Athletics | Discus Throw |
| Devendra Jhajharia | Athletics | Javelin Throw |
| Sundar Singh Gurjar | Athletics | Javelin Throw |
| Rinku | Athletics | Javelin Throw |
| Ranbeer Narender | Athletics | Javelin Throw |
| Sandeep | Athletics | Javelin Throw |
| Amit Kumar Saroha | Athletics | Club Throw |
| Dharambir | Athletics | Club Throw |
| Virender Dhankhar | Athletics | Discus Throw |
| Deepa Malik | Athletics | Shotput |
| Farman Basha | Powerlifting | Men's 49kg |
| Naresh Sharma | Shooting | Men's R7 50m Rifle 3 positions |
| Suyash Narayan Jadhav | Swimming | Men's 50m Butterfly |
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to extend his wholehearted support for the Rio-bound Paralympians. "The people of India will be enthusiastically cheering for our athletes representing India at the Rio 2016 Paralympics, starting 7th Sept," said PM Modi. in his first tweet.
"We all wish our contingent for the Rio 2016 Paralympics the very best. I am sure our athletes will give their best & make us proud," the Prime Minister added in the second tweet.
