Can We Be the 35-Medal Nation?

PREDICTIONS ARE a risky business. Especially when it is about sport and the Olympic or the Paralympic Games. Having said that, predictions are also a favourite pastime with us analysts. With the Paralympic Games less than 150 days away, how is India shaping up for it? Will we use the games to advance the narrative of equality and sensitivity in the country and will there be a groundswell of support for the Paralympic movement? Can India turn a new leaf and double the number of medals that it had won in Tokyo in 2021?

For the record, India had won just one medal in the 2012 Paralympics in London. In Rio, the number had increased to four and it was a significant achievement for the country that was still trying to come to terms with the Paralympics. In Tokyo, it was a four-fold jump and India ended with 19 medals from a contingent of 54 athletes and it was by far the most successful Paralympics in India’s sporting history. India lost a few very close contests or else the medal count could well have crossed 20. The momentum continued with the Asian Para Games in 2023 where India won 111 medals last October. It is against this backdrop that India will be sending its biggest contingent to Paris and hoping for a record medal haul. Even at the risk of being questioned later, may I say that 35 medals in Paris is a very realistic proposition. Under new president Devendra Jhajharia, India’s most decorated Paralympian ever with two golds and a silver to his name, India is expected to field its best-ever team and double its Tokyo medal count.

“In badminton alone, we should get close to double-digit medals. You should see our performance in every competition in the last two years. We have won medals in almost every competition globally and are very well prepared for the games,” said Gaurav Khanna, coach of the National Paralympic Badminton Team.

Suhas Yathiraj, who has now become a role model for many, concurs with his coach. Yathiraj, who is an IAS officer and served as the district magistrate of Noida during Covid, is hugely hopeful of winning the gold medal himself. “It is about preparation and trusting the process. I can tell you we will be the best prepared and if you see our track record in the last few years, there is little doubt Paris will be the best-ever games for us,” says Yathiraj.

Badminton isn’t the only sport where India has done well in the recent past. Athletics continues to be the showstopper with the Sumit Antil leading the charge. Antil, who breaks world records in almost every event that he takes part in, will go for his second consecutive Paralympic gold medal after Tokyo. “I just don’t want to win the gold medal. I want to win with a world record throw and try and cross 75 metres. If Neeraj [Chopra] can aim for 90 metres, it is fair I aim to cross 80 metres and set the bar high,” said Antil. In Tokyo, Antil had broken his own world record three times in a matter of 45 minutes and created a stir, and was perhaps the best para-athlete in the entire Games. Having won the world championship gold in Paris last August and the Asian Para Games gold in October, Antil is confident he can continue the same rich vein of form in the Paralympic Games starting August 28, 2024.

“It is not just about winning medals. It is also about participating in the maximum number of events and giving yourself the maximum opportunity to win medals. In Tokyo, we participated in nine of the 22 disciplines. In Paris, we want to change this and participate in many more. That’s when you grow the scope of your sport and allow athletes more opportunities to win,” says Jhajaria, who has recently taken over as president of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) from compatriot Deepa Malik.

At the time when Jhajharia participated, facilities weren’t half as good as now and the challenges were far more difficult to overcome.

Sample this: “When I went to the Athens Paralympics in 2004, all I had was a pair of spikes that cost me Rs 400 and a javelin priced at Rs 300. I paid for the trip myself and was one of the 25 athletes who represented India in Greece. Every other athlete participating in Athens would come to the stadium with their personal coach, trainer, physio and support team. They had better javelins, which were very similar to the ones we use now. But for me, it was never about facilities. It was never about the quality of javelin or spikes or coaching. It was always about hard work and more hard work. Working the hardest was my weapon against adversity and I am glad it worked for me.”

Devendra Jhajharia lost an arm at the age of eight when he accidentally touched an electric cable while climbing a tree. “The shock was more mental than anything else. When I came back home from the hospital, I was depressed. For the first month, I refused to leave my house.”

Even at the risk of being questioned later, 35 medals in Paris is a very realistic proposition for India. Under new president Devendra Jhajharia, India’s most decorated Paralympian ever with two golds and a silver to his name, India is expected to field its best-ever team and double its Tokyo medal count

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The turnaround for Devendra happened when he was in Class 10 in school. The occasion was the annual school athletics meet. Javelin was one of the events. A young Devendra, always keen to play sport, was eager to try his hand at the javelin. But he faced serious rejection at school. As he put it, “Sabne hume manaa kar diya. Kehne lage mein kya kar raha hoon wahan pe. Javelin mere se nahi hone wala hai aur mujhe yeh sab nahi karna chahiye. Mera ek haath nahi hain, maine aise kaise thaan liya ki main javelin phekunga. Bhagwan ki daya se main par raha tha yahi bahut tha (Everyone said no. They asked what I was doing there. They said I couldn’t throw a javelin and that I should leave the sport. I didn’t have one hand, so how could I think of throwing a javelin, they asked. They said by God’s grace, it was enough that I could still study).”

“Maine bhi thaan li thi. Main javelin khelna chahta tha or main khel ke rahunga (I was also determined that I would throw a javelin and that I would do it),” he says.

It is the same determination Devendra has brought to the fore as the president of PCI in supporting the athletes going to Paris. “We as para-athletes don’t need sympathy. You don’t need to listen to our stories and feel bad for us. Rather, you need to listen to us and feel inspired by us. See what we can do braving all adversity and appreciate us for it. As much as you do for able-bodied athletes, you should appreciate para-athletes as well. We are sportspersons and that’s how you need to treat us,” says Jhajharia.

If India does go on to win the 35 medals as I have argued, there is every reason to believe Jhajharia will stand vindicated. The political class led by the prime minister will surely get behind the contingent and the Indian Paralympic sport will turn a new corner. More money and more facilities will become a norm and it will be a telling comment on what we stand for as a country.

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Boria Majumdar

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