India at the Paralympics

India at the Paralympic Games
Flag of India IPC code  IND NPC Paralympic Committee of India
Paralympic history
Summer Games
1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016

India made its Summer Paralympic début at the 1968 Games, competed again in 1972, and then was absent until the 1984 Games. The country has participated in every edition of the Summer Games since then. It has never participated in the Winter Paralympic Games.^[1]

In 1972 at the Heidelberg Games, Petkar swam the 50 meter freestyle in a world record time of 37.331 seconds to give India her first ever Gold. India finished 24th out of the 42 participating nations. In 1984, Joginder Singh Bedi won silver at the Men's Shot Put and followed it up with a pair of bronze winning performances in the Discus and Javelin throws. Another Indian, Bhimrao Kesarkar, won the silver medal in the Javelin. India finished 37th out of the 54 participating nations.^[2]

After the success of the cooperative effort between the ICC and the IOC, which resulted in the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, the ICC determined the need to expand and include representatives from all nations that had disability sports programs. The 1988 Summer Paralympics were the first Paralympics in 24 years that took place in the same city as the Olympic Games. This was the first time the term Paralympic Games came into official use.They also deemed it necessary to include athletes in the decisions of the Paralympic governing body. Consequently, this body was reorganized as the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in 1989.The IPC is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement. It comprises 165 National Paralympic Committees (NPC) and four disability-specific international sports federations.

India continued to participate in each Paralympic Games thereafter, but failed to make an impact till the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens when Devendra Jhajharia,^[3] Javelin thrower, won gold and Rajinder Singh won bronze for powerlifting in the 56-kg category. India finished 53rd out of the 136 nation field. H. N. Girisha, an Indian athlete born with a disability in the left leg, won the silver medal in the 2012 Paralympic games held in London in the men's high jump F-42 category.

Medals by Summer Games

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Rank
1960 Rome	did not participate
1964 Tokyo	did not participate
1968 Tel Aviv	0	0	0	0	-
1972 Heidelberg	1	0	0	1	25
1976 Toronto	0	0	0	0	-
1980 Arnhem	0	0	0	0	-
1984 Stoke Mandeville/New York	0	2	2	4	37
1988 Seoul	0	0	0	0	-
1992 Barcelona	0	0	0	0	-
1996 Atlanta	0	0	0	0	-
2000 Sydney	0	0	0	0	-
2004 Athens	1	0	1	2	53
2008 Beijing	0	0	0	0	-
2012 London	0	1	0	1	-
Total	2	3	3	8

Medalists

Medal	Name/Team	Games	Sport	Event
Gold	Petkar	1972 Heidelberg	Swimming	50m freestyle 3
Silver	Bhimrao Kesarkar	/ 1984 Stoke Mandeville/New York	Athletics	Javelin Throw L6
Silver	Joginder Singh Bedi	/ 1984 Stoke Mandeville/New York	Athletics	Shot Put L6
Bronze	Joginder Singh Bedi	/ 1984 Stoke Mandeville/New York	Athletics	Javelin Throw L6
Bronze	Joginder Singh Bedi	/ 1984 Stoke Mandeville/New York	Athletics	Discus Throw L6
Gold	Devendra Jhajharia	2004 Athens	Athletics	Javelin throw F44/46
Bronze	Rajinder Singh Rahelu	2004 Athens	Powerlifting	56kg category
Silver	Girisha Nagarajegowda	2012 London	Athletics	Men's High Jump F42

Medals by Summer Sport

Sport	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Athletics	1	3	2	6
Swimming	1	0	0	1
Powerlifting	0	0	1	1

2012 Games Village Controversy

During the 2012 Summer Paralympics it was reported that coaches and escorts of the Indian Team were denied accommodation in the Games Village because their permits were being used by officials of the Paralympic Committee of India.^[4] The Team's 10 athletes were to be assisted by six coaches and five escorts, but only two escorts were given passes; Paralympic Committee general Secretary Ratan Singh confirmed that he had brought his son, that the Committee president had brought his wife, and the treasurer had brought his wife and daughter.^[5]

See also

• India at the Olympics

References

1. India at the Paralympics on paralympic.org
2. "The lesser-known Olympics". blogger. 2012-08-08. Retrieved 2012-10-13.
3. "Never before shown: A gold medal winner from India". paralympic village. 2004-12-19. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
4. "Not provided with escort, alleges Paralympics athlete". thehindu.com. The Hindu. September 3, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
5. Kumar, Nandini (September 2, 2012). "Officials ditch special athletes at Paralympics". epaper.timesofindia.com. Mumbai Mirror, re-published online by e-paper. p. 22. Retrieved September 6, 2012.