The PCI chief said that the recent statistics backed the Indian athletes to perform well at the Paralympic Games.
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There certainly seems to be a lot of hype surrounding the Paralympics Games in Tokyo for India. A lot of it is due to the nation’s incredible performance at the Tokyo Olympics that concluded recently. The Indian Paralympics contingent travelling to Tokyo is the largest in history. A total of 54 athletes will compete in nine sports. These are archery, athletics, badminton, canoeing, shooting, swimming, powerlifting, table tennis, and taekwondo. The President of the Paralympics Committee of India (PCI), Deepa Malik said that she is looking forward to the para-athletes creating history by recording their best-ever performance at the Games. The notion of India having its best-ever year at the Paralympics is one that is shared by several given the strong talent pool the nation currently possesses.
“Absolutely, my expectations have already gone beyond what I was expecting. This year, India is sending the largest-ever contingent. I am very hopeful that we are going to create history,” Malik said when asked if she is expecting the best-ever display. “It’s a contingent which is three times bigger in number, we have added four more sports in the past 4-5 years of gap between 2016-21. Almost two years have gone in the pandemic but despite that it’s a huge leap in the number of athletes qualifying,” the PCI chief added at a press conference to launch a joint campaign with beverage brand Thumbs Up.
Malik herself is someone who knows what it is like to make history at the Paralympics. She had become India’s first-ever female athlete to win a medal at the time during her playing days. The PCI chief said that the recent statistics backed the Indian athletes to perform well at the Games. “It is not just qualification, it is also acquiring the quota on the basis of world ranking. The statistics are looking very bright, athletes have done pretty well in the selection trials and the kind of current world rankings they are holding look very promising,” she said.
“Because the number of participation and the number of sports has increased, we have top-ranking athletes, that gives us a very good indication that it’s going to be great Paralympics for Indian history,” she added. India had a good performance at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games where the country bagged four medals, including two golds, one silver, and one bronze.
COVID-19 will of course be a matter of concern for the PCI and the athletes. Speaking about the restrictions enforced upon the Games Village, Malik said that the athletes had adapted well to the conditions. “We have to submit our samples every morning for Covid testing. Before entering any place you have to give your temperature and maintain a distance. In the village there are designated lanes,” she said.
