After the Paris Olympics 2024 is over, now it is the turn of the Paralympic Games. The Paralympic Games 2024 is going to start in Paris from Wednesday, August 28. Like every time, legendary para-athletes from all over the world will participate in Paris, who will leave behind their physical limitations and problems and bring glory to their country by competing fiercely. Like the Paris Olympics, India's largest contingent till date is going to participate in the Paralympics, so this time the countrymen are expecting more medals than the Tokyo Games. Once again, eyes will be on players like star javelin thrower Sumit Antil, rifle shooter Avani Lekhara, badminton star Krishna Nagar, who won gold medals in the last games.

This time there are record athletes, expectations have also increased

The Paris Paralympics is starting from 28 August and will end on 8 September after 12 days of fierce competition. This time a total of 169 countries including India are participating in these games. As far as India is concerned, this time more players of the country will get a chance to show their strength, while fans will get to see more action. That means more medal expectations.

In the Tokyo Paralympics, India won a total of 19 medals including 5 gold medals and was ranked 24th in the medal table. This was India's most successful campaign in Paralympic history and this time the target has been set to take it to 25 medals.

This time a record 84 athletes from India are participating in the Paralympic Games, which is a record participation from India. In the last games this number was 54. Due to the increase in the number of athletes, 10 gold medals are expected to be won this time. This time Indian para-athletes will compete in a total of 12 games and like last time, the expectations will again be from shooting, badminton and athletics.

Surprising everyone, in the last games India got a total of 8 medals in athletics, while 6 medals came in shooting.

PCI President Shri @DevJhajharia ji proudly announces that India's largest-ever contingent is ready to shine at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games!

With top-notch preparation, three new sports—para-cycling, para-judo, and para-rowing—and unmatched commitment, we're aiming pic.twitter.com/Tc6lnIBSMr

— Paralympic Committee of India (@PCI_IN_Official) August 26, 2024

The giants will again come down to win gold

In shooting, the focus will again be on Avni Lekhara and Manish Narwal.

Both of them had won the gold medal in the last games. Avni will participate in the women's 10 meter air rifle standing SH1 category and will try to defend the gold. Avni had won one gold and one bronze in the last games. Manish Narwal will stake his claim in men's pistol shooting. He will participate in 10 meter air pistol SH1. In the last games, he had won the gold medal in the mixed team event.

Most eyes will be on javelin thrower Sumit Antil. Three years ago, just a few days after Neeraj Chopra's historic gold medal at the Tokyo Games, Sumit also created a stir by winning gold. India's gold medals in both the games at the same time helped make javelin throw popular. Once again Antil will defend his title in the F64 category. By the way, among the contenders in this event, Antil has the best throw of this season - 69.50 meters. Apart from him, Sandeep and Sandeep Sargar will also present their claim in this event.

Pramod Bhagat will be missed

Sumit will be the flag bearer of the Indian team in the opening ceremony. Bhagyashree, who is competing in shot put, will also be the flag bearer of India. A big blow to India's hopes has been the absence of badminton star Pramod Bhagat, who has been banned for one and a half years for violating an important rule related to dope test. This ban was imposed on him about 10 days before the start of the games. Bhagat had won a medal in the last Olympics and this time too he won the medal. In such a situation, the entire responsibility will be on Krishna Nagar and District Magistrate of Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, Suhas LY. Krishna had won gold last time, while Suhas had won silver.