CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR PARA ATHLETES
2.9.3 History of Indians in Paralympics The history of Paralympics in India dates back a long way since the 1968 summer Paralympics at Tel, Aviv, Israel. Ever since there has been no looking back for the country in terms of development and progress at the Paralympics. Hence, the eventual important insights into the history of the Paralympics in India has been mentioned below: 1) 1968 Summer Olympics, Tel Aviv, Israel India made their maiden appearance at the Paralympics in 1968 in Tel Aviv, Israel. A total of 10 athletes were sent to the Games as a part of the Indian delegation which included 8 men and 2 women. India, however, returned home without any medal from the Games but it was the first real experience for India’s para-athletes at the big stage. Figure 5: 1968 Paralympics; Source: paralympic.org 2) 1972 India’s first Paralympic medal Four years later at the 1972 Heidelberg Games in Germany, India bagged their first medal at the Paralympics. Para-swimmer Murlikant Petkar set a world record time of 37.331 seconds to bag a gold medal in 50m freestyle swimming. It was, however, the only medal earned by India at the Games which helped them finish at the 24th spot in the overall medal tally from the 42 participating nations. Figure 6: 1972 Paralympics; Source: paralympic.org
3) 1984 New Paralympic Record India did not participate at the 1976 and the 1980 Paralympics. In the year 1984 New York Paralympics, 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. Figure 7: 1984 Paralympics; Source: paralympic.org
17 | LITERATURE STUDY
