New Delhi: Paris Olympic medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra extended his best wishes for the Indian contingent for the Paralympics, which gets underway Wednesday with the Opening Ceremony in Paris.
A total of 84 Indian para-athletes will compete at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, scheduled from August 28 to September 9 in France. It is India’s largest contingent in Paralympic history.
“My best wishes to all the incredible Indian athletes competing in the Paralympic Games which begin in Paris today. Keep inspiring us!” Chopra posted on X.
My best wishes to all the incredible Indian athletes competing in the Paralympic Games which begin in Paris today. Keep inspiring us! 🇮🇳
— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) August 28, 2024
Sumit Antil and Bhagyashri Jadhav will be India’s flagbearers at the opening ceremony.
India will compete in 12 of the 22 sports, including debuts in para-cycling, para judo and para rowing.
India’s campaign will begin on Thursday with para archery, where Tokyo Paralympics bronze medallist Harvinder Singh will feature in men’s recurve ranking round and Sarita will play in the women’s compound open category.
Later, in para badminton, Krishna Nagar will start his men’s singles title defence in SH6 category. Sivarajan Solaimalai and Nithya Sre Sivan are the other para-shuttlers who will be in the action on day-1.
India have won 31 medals from the previous 11 editions of the Paralympic Games. Tokyo 2020 produced India’s most successful campaign to date with the athletes returning with 19 medals – five gold, eight silver and six bronze.