Tokyo Paralympics 2020: India finishes 24th with record 19 medals

Indian contingent finished their campaign at the Tokyo Paralympic Games 2020 at an all-time high by securing a total of 19 medals which includes 5 gold, 8 silver, and 6 bronze medals.

Indian Flag Bearers:

• Javelin thrower Tek Chand was the flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Paralympics.
• Shooter Avani Lekhara was India’s flag-bearer at the closing ceremony.

India at Paralympics 2020:

• India sent its biggest ever contingent of 54 para-athletes at Tokyo Paralympics to compete across as many as 9 sporting disciplines at the Games.
• Prior to this, India had won a total of 12 Paralympics medals, since making its first appearance at the Paralympics in 1968, till the 2016 Rio.
• The Indian theme song of Paralympics 2020 “Kar de kamaal tu”. The composer and singer of the song is Sanjeev Singh, a Divyang cricket player from Lucknow.

List of Indian medalists winners of Tokyo Paralympics 2020:

Gold

• Athletics: Sumit Antil (Men’s Javelin Throw)
• Badminton: Pramod Bhagat (Men’s Singles)
• Badminton: Krishna Nagar (Men’s Singles)
• Shooting: Manish Narwal (Mixed 50m Pistol)
• Shooting: Avani Lekhara (Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing)

Silver

• Athletics: Yogesh Kathuniya (Men’s Discus Throw)
• Athletics: Nishad Kumar (Men’s High Jump)
• Athletics: Mariyappan Thangavelu (Men’s High Jump)
• Athletics: Praveen Kumar (Men’s High Jump)
• Athletics: Devendra Jhajharia (Men’s Javelin Throw)
• Badminton: Suhas Yathiraj (Men’s Singles)
• Shooting: Singhraj Adhana (Mixed 50m Pistol)
• Table Tennis: Bhavina Patel (Women’s Singles)

Bronze

• Archery: Harvinder Singh (Men’s Individual Recurve)
• Athletics: Sharad Kumar (Men’s High Jump)
• Athletics: Sundar Singh Gurjar (Men’s Javelin Throw) 
• Badminton: Manoj Sarkar (Men’s Singles)
• Shooting: Singhraj Adhana (Men’s 10m Air Pistol)
• Shooting: Avani Lekhara (Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions)

Important takeaways from Tokyo Paralympics:

• Tokyo Paralympics was the 16th Summer Paralympic Games, held in Tokyo, Japan from August 24, to September 05, 2021.
• Badminton and Taekwondo were inducted for the first time in Tokyo Paralympics.
• Team China topped the final medal tally at Tokyo Paralympic Games. The country won a total of 207 medals (96 golds, 60 silvers and 51 bronzes). United Kingdom (124) gets the second position followed by the USA (104).
• This is the fifth consecutive time China dominated Paralympic Games in both gold medal tally and overall medal tally.
• The closing ceremony was entitled ‘Harmonious Cacophony’ and involved both able-bodied actors and others with disabilities. The theme was described by organizers as a ‘world inspired by the Paralympics, one where differences shine’