Here is a list of all the Indian medal winners at the Rio Paralympics.
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The 2016 Rio Paralympics was considered to be one of the momentous years for India. The country sent its largest-ever contingent and returned with its best medal haul in history. Before the Rio medal haul, Paralympic Games were held in London. There, India won just one medal but the 19-member contingent in Rio was expected to do better.
India has been a part of every Summer Paralympics except for the 1976 and 1980 editions. Before Rio, India had a total of eight medals. But the athletes added four more medals to the country’s tally in Rio.
The Indian contingent had 19 Indian athletes – 16 men and three women – participating in five sports at the Rio Paralympics. Devendra Jhajharia and Mariyappan Thangavelu won gold medals, Deepa Malik won silver, and Varun Singh Bhati bagged bronze.
Jhajaria was India’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony and broke his own world record in the men’s javelin throw event. In Athens, he had won India its second gold medal at the Paralympics with a then world record throw of 62.15 meters. Javelin was not a part of the Beijing and London Games but back in Rio, Jhajharia delivered a stunning throw of 63.97 meters.
Jhajharia was the first para-athlete to be honoured with the Khel Ratna Award after his heroics in Rio. “It gives me great happiness,” he had said. “But it would have been even greater had I won it in 2005 after winning the gold and breaking the world record at the Athens Paralympics. So, it’s a bit late but I am happy nonetheless.”
Mariyappan won India its first medal with gold in the men’s T42 high jump event. He, Sam Grewe and compatriot Varun Singh Bhati, had cleared the 1.86m mark and were competing for the gold medal. This was the only competition going on in the stadium and all eyes were on these three athletes.
But, Mariyappan clinched the top spot with a brilliant jump of 1.89 meters. He became just the third Indian athlete to win a gold medal at the Paralympics. The first two were Murlikant Petkar in 1972 and javelin thrower Jhajharia in 2004.
Bhati and Grewe couldn’t better the 1.86m mark. The Indian won the bronze medal since he had taken more attempts.
When he was five, Mariyappan suffered permanent disability in his right leg when he was run over by a drunk bus driver while walking to school. In March 2016, Mariyappan cleared a distance of 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) in the men’s high jump T–42 event at the IPC Grand Prix in Tunisia, which ensured he would go to the Rio Paralympics. At the Rio Paralympics, he won the gold medal in the men’s high jump T–42 event, with a leap of 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in).
Malik became the first-ever woman to win a Gold medal at the Paralympics. This remarkable feat took place at the Rio Paralympics. With a personal best throw of 4.61 meters, Malik won the silver medal in the women’s shot put F53 event.
The then 45-year-old was the oldest member of the Indian contingent at the Rio Games. After winning silver in the shot put and discus throw events at the 2011 World Championships, she had received the Arjuna award in 2012.
