"I am confident the Paris Paralympics will be a watershed in the history of Indian sport” - PCI president Devendra Jhajharia

With the 2024 Summer Paralympics approaching, the newly appointed president of the Paralympic Committee of India, Devendra Jhajharia expressed confidence in the Indian team.

Jhajharia believes that the Paris Paralympics will turn out to be a watershed moment in the history of Indian sports.

"I am confident the Paris Paralympics will be a watershed in the history of Indian sport”, PCI president Devendra Jhajharia said after signing a three-year deal with Shrachi Group.

There is no denying that India have made huge strides in the Para-Sport competitions. We have seen numerous individuals making their nation proud by bringing medals home.

Having competed in 11 editions of the Paralympic Games so far, India has managed to accumulate 31 medals. India made heads turn with a stunning performance at the 2020 Paralympics tournament. The Indian athletes won as many as 19 medals at the event.

It is safe to say that the Paralympic Committee of India and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports have left no stone unturned, in the past decade or so, in providing the best facilities to the athletes and the results have been there to see.

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Indian Athletes bagged a record 111 medals at the Para Asian Games in Hangzhou

At the Asian Para Games 2023, India put in their best-ever performance as they returned with a record figure of 111 medals, which included 29 gold medals. With that, they surpassed their previous best tally of 107 medals won at the Asian Games 2023.

Sports minister Anurag Thakur also heaped praise on the performance and assured to give all the support to the para-athletes.

"This performance reflects the hard work of our athletes and the introduction of the right policies in sports. Be it the Khelo India scheme at the grassroot levels or the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) for elite athletes, the support extended through these schemes is indeed showing results now.” Thakur told reporters.

“You will be happy to know that eight Khelo India athletes and 46 TOPS athletes participated at the Games and won a total of 38 medals out of 111. Also, the increase of sports budget by three times as compared to 2014 has also given us the ability to extend better support to all our athletes, be it in terms of coaches, training, foreign exposure, diet, infrastructure," he added.

With expectations mounting, it remains to be seen how well the athletes perform at the Paralympics 2024.