The Paralympics is a series of multisport events, just like the Olympics, where athletes with various disabilities participate. These games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and are held every four years, at the same venue as the Olympics. This year, after the success of Paris 2024, the French capital will play host to the Paralympics 2024 now.
Live Medal Tally
Paralympics 2024 Format
Largely, all the competitions at Games will be in 22 sports, namely — archery, athletics, badminton, boccia, cycling, equestrian, football, goalball, judo, paracanoe, paratriathlon. powerlifting, rowing, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby, wheelchair tennis. Athletes from 186 nations would be part of Paris 2024 Paralympics, to make it a global success.
Key Changes for Paris 2024
As far as the sports and disciplines are concerned, there are no changes in Paralympics 2024, from Tokyo 2020. Medals will be awarded in the same 22 sports as the last time. However, the IPC considered getting in new sports like golf, karate, para dance sport, and powerchair football, but eventually weren’t added to the roster.
Top Countries at Paralympics
It is the usual suspects from the Olympics, who are good at the Paralympics as well. USA top the historic medals tally at the Games with a massive 2283 top-3 positions to their name. They have 808 gold in that. They are closely followed by Great Britain with 1913 medals, out of which 668 are golds.
China is in third with 1229 medals, out of which 529 are golds. India, meanwhile, have found their prowess in the event recently, and are the 57th sport with 31 medals, out of which 9 are golds. Once again, expect no difference as far as the medals tally is concerned, with USA, China, and France expected to dominate the proceedings.
TOP Athletes to Watch
Alexis Hanquinquant (Para Triathlon)
The French para athlete is one of the best in the world, in his discipline, and was the Olympic torchbearer at the Olympics 2024 on July 26. After this massive achievement, now it is time for Alexis to complete the formality of a gold medal.
Diede de Groot (Tennis)
de Groot is somewhat of a Rafael Nadal of para tennis. She is the queen of clay and has won five Roland Garros titles so far in her career. So it is time for her to pocket yet another one in France. To go with those titles, she has 18 more Grand Slams to her name.
Oksana Masters (Para-Cycling)
There’s hardly anything that this athlete from the USA can’t do. The six-time Paralympian has 17 medals to her name, across four sports — Para rowing, Para cross-country skiing, Para biathlon and Para cycling.
Brazil (Blind Football)
Just like what an average football fan would expect from a Brazilian football team, this team too aces all those parameters. Ever since blind football was introduced at the Paralympics, they have won all the gold medals. So expect nothing different from them, this time around as well.
Paralympics Schedule
| Date | Sport | Events |
|---|---|---|
| 29 August | Para-archery | Men’s Individual Recurve Open (ST) Women’s Individual Recurve Open (ST) Mixed Team Recurve Open (ST) Men’s Individual Compound Open (W2) Women’s Individual Compound Open (W2) Mixed Team Compound Open (W2) |
| Para-badminton | Men’s singles SL3, SH6, SL4, S4 Women’s singles SL3, SL4, SU5, SH6 Mixed doubles SL3-SU5, Mixed doubles SH6 | |
| Track cycling | Men’s C1-3 1000m Time Trial Men’s C2 3000m Individual Pursuit Women’s C1-3 500m Time Trial Women’s C1-3 3000m Individual Pursuit | |
| 30 August | Para-athletics | Women’s 100m T-12 women’s 200m-T12 women’s 400m-T20 women’s 100m-T35 women’s 200m-T35 Men’s 400m-T47 Women’s 1500m-T11 Men’s javelin throw — F64, F46, F41, F57, F54 Women’s javelin throw F46 Men’s discus throw F56 Women’s discus throw F55 and F53 Men’s club throw F51 Men’s high jump T47 T64 and T63 Men’s shot put F46, F40, F37, F35 and F57 Women’s shot put F46 and F34 |
| Para-shooting | P1- Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 P2- Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 P3- Women’s 25m Pistol SH1 P4-Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 R1- Men’s 10m Air Rifle Std SH1 R2- Women’s 10m Air Rifle Std SH1 R3- Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prn SH1 R4-Mixed 10m Air Rifle Std SH2 R5- Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prn SH2 R6-Mixed 50m Rifle Prone SH1 R8- Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1 | |
| 4 September | Road cycling | Men’s C2 Individual Time Trial Men’s C1-3 Road Race Women’s C1-3 Individual Time Trial Women’s C1-3 Road Race |
| 5 September | Para-judo | Men’s 60kg J1 Women’s 48kg J2 |
| 6 September | Para Canoe | Women’s Va’a Single 200m VL2 Men’s Kayak Single 200m KL1 Women’s Kayak Single 200m KL1 |
| Para rowing | PR3 Mixed Doubles Sculls | |
| Para-table tennis | Women’s singles WS3, WS4 Women’s Doubles WD10 | |
| Para powerlifting | Men’s up to 49kg and 65kg Women’s up to 45kg and 67kg | |
| Para-swimming | Men’s 50m Butterfly-S7 | |
| Para-taekwondo | Women’s K44-47kg |
India’s Medal Prospects
The Tokyo Paralympics were highly successful for the Indian contingent. The team finished in the top 25 for the first time, secured double-digit medals, and won a historic five gold medals. As India prepares for the Paris Paralympics, the aim is to surpass these achievements.
Sheetal Devi
Sheetal Devi gained attention when videos of her shooting an arrow without upper limbs went viral. The 17-year-old from Jammu and Kashmir has exceptional talent. After 11 months of training, she won three medals, including two golds and one silver, at the Asian Para Games in Compound Archery. With more preparation time for her first Paralympics, she is well-prepared for Paris.
Avani Lekhara
Avani Lekhara needs no introduction. She was the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Paralympic Games, claiming the top prize in the 10m air rifle event at Tokyo 2020. Lekhara also won gold at the 2022 Asian Games.
Sumit Antil
Sumit Antil is synonymous with consistency. A javelin thrower from the same city as two-time Olympic medalist Neeraj Chopra, Antil clinched gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. He has consistently won gold medals, including at the 2023 and 2024 World Championships and the 2022 Asian Games. Antil holds the world record in the javelin throw F64 category with a distance of 73.29 meters.
How to Watch Paralympics
The Paris Paralympics live streaming in India will be available on Jio Cinema app and website. Apart from that, fans can watch the live Youtube stream as well on the Olympics channel. Not just that, Paris Paralympics live telecast will be available on Sports 18 Network in India.
