After the flames of the Tokyo Olympics, 2020 were extinguished, Paralympics 2020 is set to commence from August 24 which will conclude on September 5, 2021. The Tokyo Paralympics will feature 539 events across 22 different disciplines to be hosted at 21 venues.
India will be sending its largest-ever contingent with 54 para athletes to compete in nine sporting disciplines. Mariyappan Thangavelu, the 2016 Rio Gold Medalist in the men’s high jump, has been selected as the captain and will lead the Indian contingent.
Talking about the preparations, Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) President Deepa Malik had told ANI, “We had to make some really bold decisions in the welfare of the athletes. This year’s March National Meet was very important. There was a difficult time in getting the trials done, to be able to make the SOP, we want to thank the Sports Authority of India. Secretary sir personally overlooked the arrangements at the JLN Stadium.”
At least 4 medals expected
The Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) is confident that the country will win at least four medals in Tokyo Paralympics.
In a first, a record 10 para shooters including top pistol shooters Singhraj and Manish Narwal have been named for the Tokyo 2020 Games. The final list includes Manish Narwal (P1, P4), Singhraj (P1, P4), Deepender Singh (P1), Deepak (R1, R6, R7), Sidhartha Babu (R3, R6), Swaroop Mahavir Unhalkar (R1), Akash (P3, P4), Rahul Jakhar (P3), Avani Lekhara (R2, R3, R6, R8), and Rubina Francis (P2).
Star javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia and high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu will also make their presence felt. Other players to represent India include Sharad Kumar and Varun Singh Bhatti (all high jump T-63), Amit Kumar and Dharambir (club throw F-51), Nishad Kumar and Ram Pal (high jump T-47), Sonam Rana (shot put F-57), Navdeep (javelin F-41), Praveen Kumar (high jump T-64), Yogesh Kathuniya (discus throw F-56), Vinod Kumar (discus throw F-56), Ranjeet Bhati (javelin F-57), Arvind (shot put F-35), Tek Chand (javelin F-54).
Ekta Bhyan and Kashish Lakra (both club throw F-51), Bhagyashri Jadhav (shot put F-34), Simran (100m T-13) represent the women’s team.
‘Kar de tu Kamaal’- official theme song
The Paralympics Committee of India (PCI) launched the Official theme song for the Indian Para Athletes on August 03 and urged the nation to root for our players.
The song composed and sung by Indian Divyang player Sanjiv Singh was launched by Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, Sports Secretary Ravi Mittal, PCI President Deepa Malik and Secretary-General Gursharan Singh.
Union Minister Thakur took to Twitter to share the theme song.
India 🇮🇳 is sending it’s largest ever contingent to the Paralympic Games #Tokyo2020 – 54 para sportspersons across 9 sports disciplines.
— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) August 3, 2021
Delighted to launch the powerpacked theme song for #TeamIndia !
Listen in 👇🏼
| @ParalympicIndia @DeepaAthlete #Praise4Para #Paralympics | pic.twitter.com/ojA6EfQDVV
What is Paralympics?
Paralympic Games is a major international sports competition for differently-abled athletes. The Paralympics are split into Winter Games and Summer Games, which alternately occur every two years.
Paralympic athletes compete in six different groups—amputee, cerebral palsy, visual impairment, spinal cord injuries, intellectual disability, and “les autres” (athletes who do not fit into one of the other categories, including dwarfism) and then further divided into various segments.
