India finishes the 2024 Paralympics in Paris with 29 medals. Pakistan and China have …

The Paris 2024 Paralympics concluded for India on Sunday, with Pooja Ojha being the last athlete in action. Ojha failed to qualify for the women's 200m kayak final and was eliminated from the competition. As a result, India's medal tally at the Paris Paralympics ended at 29 – seven gold medals, nine silver medals and 13 bronze medals, making it the most successful season for the country. Thanks to the 29 medals, India finished 18th in the points table. Pakistan, which also participated in the event, ended the season in 79th place with just a single bronze medal.

India has performed very well in the 2024 campaign, defeating top nations like Switzerland, Belgium, South Korea, Turkey, Argentina, etc. to finish the Paris Paralympics among the top 20 countries in the world.

Compared to India, the traditional heavyweights of the Paralympic Games – China, Great Britain, USA, Italy, etc. – have made significant gains and finished in the top 10 nations. India, which made significant progress in Paris, will be looking to put in an even better performance at the 2028 Paralympic Games in LA.

On Saturday, India won its 29th and final medal at the Paris Paralympics through Navdeep Singh, who took the gold medal in the men's javelin F41 category.

Navdeep, who competes in the category for athletes of short stature, originally achieved the silver medal after eclipsing world record holder Sun Pengxiang of China with a throw of 47.32 metres.

However, this was upgraded to an unprecedented gold medal after Iran's Sadegh Beit Sayah was disqualified for repeatedly displaying an offensive flag. Pengxiang (44.72 m) took silver.

Sayah had managed to pull away from the field with a new Paralympic record of 47.64 m in the penultimate throw, but lost the medal due to his antics.

According to International Paralympic Committee rules, athletes are prohibited from making any political gestures during the event and Sayah was disqualified from the final rankings for unsportsmanlike/inappropriate conduct.

At the same venue, Simran, accompanied by her guide Abhay Singh, clocked an impressive personal best of 24.75 seconds to win the bronze medal in the Women’s 200m (T12).

The 24-year-old from Delhi, who was diagnosed with visual impairment at the time of her premature birth, is the reigning world champion in the event. She finished fourth in the 100 metres at the current Games and Saturday's medal helped salvage her campaign.

Athletics contributed 17 medals to this tally, including four gold medals. In the overall ranking, the country is in 15th place, led by China with an incredible 208 medals, including 90 gold medals.

For Navdeep, the gold medal is atonement for the disappointing fourth place he suffered at the Tokyo Games.

Navdeep is an inspector in the Income Tax Department and has won five medals at the national level since starting his sporting career in 2017. He won bronze at the Paralympic World Championships earlier this year.

Simran, on the other hand, won two silver medals at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou last year and secured three gold medals in the 100m, 200m and long jump at the inaugural Khelo India Para Games last December.

She is coached by her husband Naik Gajendra Singh.

With PTI inputs