Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted India’s Paralympic champions at his residence on Thursday to personally congratulate them on their historic achievement of securing 29 medals at the recently concluded Paris Paralympic Games. A brief 43-second video shared by the sports ministry captured the PM meeting the medalists before engaging in a conversation with them. Sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya and the President of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), Devendra Jhajharia, were also present at the gathering.
Among the athletes in attendance were Avani Lekhara, the wheelchair-bound shooter who won her second consecutive gold medal in the women’s 10m air rifle (SH1), and Kapil Parmar, India’s first visually-impaired judoka to win a Paralympic medal. Parmar was seen proudly getting his medal signed by the Prime Minister.
Additionally, the Prime Minister shared a video on Instagram, capturing a special moment with Navdeep Singh, the gold medalist in javelin in the F41 classification at the 2024 Paris Paralympics. During their interaction, Navdeep made a unique request, asking if he could place a cap on the Prime Minister’s head. In a heartwarming gesture, Modi obliged, sitting down and saying, “Main yahan baithta hun, tum pehnao” (I’ll sit here, you put the cap on my head). As they shared a handshake, the Prime Minister humorously added, “Lag raha hain na tum bade ho?” (Don’t you feel taller now?), to which Navdeep responded with a smile.
Navdeep’s intense display of emotion after each of his javelin attempts had garnered widespread attention, with many comparing his fiery energy to that of cricketer Virat Kohli. Addressing this, Modi asked, “Baad mein itna gussa kaise karte ho?” (Why do you get so angry after the throw?). Navdeep explained that after finishing fourth in the previous Paralympics, he had made a promise to the Prime Minister to secure a medal this time-and he delivered.
India’s performance at the Paralympics 2024 was its best to date, with the 84-member contingent securing an impressive 29 medals-seven gold, nine silver, and 13 bronze-surpassing the previous record of 19 medals from the Tokyo Games. This achievement included many first-time accomplishments, such as medals in track athletics and a gold in archery, courtesy of Harvinder Singh.
Since their return, the government has honored these athletes, with sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya awarding cash prizes of Rs 75 lakh to gold medalists, Rs 50 lakh to silver medalists, and Rs 30 lakh to those who won bronze. Mixed team athletes such as Sheetal Devi, who won a bronze medal with Rakesh Kumar, were given a cheque for Rs 22.5 lakh each.