Opinion At Asian Para Games, India’s 111 tales to inspire
Express View: The country’s para-athletes dazzled with best-ever showing at Hangzhou. They have also shown the way forward
The incredible story of 16-year-old armless archer Sheetal Devi, from Jammu and Kashmir, will inspire generations. 
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Indian athletes continue to back the country’s Olympic-size dreams. Close on the heels of a record-setting performance at the Asian Games and the strong pitch to host the 2036 Summer Games, India’s para-athletes dazzled with the country’s best-ever showing at the continental event.
In an encore of historical magnitude at Hangzhou, India finished with 111 medals — 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze — at the Asian Para Games. The medal count may be a fraction of China’s tally of 521, but the back-to-back hundreds at Hangzhou — India’s count at Asian Games was 107 medals — spoke of a sporting ecosystem that wasn’t just consistent in producing champion athletes but was inclusive too. The Asian Para rich haul is also a hat-tip to the parents, coaches and administrators who spotted and nurtured the sporting passion in the hearts and minds of children with physical disabilities. Hangzhou gave India 111 inspirational tales.
Take the case of India’s first gold medalist, swimmer Suyash Narayan Jadhav, who got electrocuted at his brother’s wedding which led to both his hands getting amputated. Or the athlete who won the 100th medal — 400m runner Dilip Mahadu Gavit, whose right arm is amputated below the elbow. Canoeist Prachi Yadav, paralysed from the waist down, rode against the tide and finished on the podium. Javelin thrower Sumit Antil, a world record holder oozing with self-confidence, hopes to give opponents a run for their money.
The incredible story of 16-year-old armless archer Sheetal Devi, from Jammu and Kashmir, will inspire generations. Born with phocomelia, a rare congenital disorder that causes under-developed limbs, she is the world’s first female archer without arms to compete internationally. In Hangzhou, the athlete who took up the sport just two years ago won two gold medals and a silver. The video clip of Sheetal hitting a bull’s eye by pulling the bow with her magically flexible legs and mouth has become viral.
The results of the government’s efforts to fund and train special sporting persons are there to see. The sports budget too has seen a three-time spike since 2014. A helping hand is all that those with disabilities need. The next step in giving para-athletes a level-playing field is to provide them easy access to local sports facilities. Every ramp built will add to the pool of talent. That will be the enduring legacy of these medals.
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