Indian Paralympic stars at India Today conclave: India created history by winning a total of 29 medals at the recently concluded 2024 Paris Paralympics. These include 7 gold medals, 9 silver medals and 13 bronze medals. India has won a total of 29 medals and ranks 18th in the medal tally among 170 countries. This is India’s best result so far in Paralympic history.
Paris Paralympic gold medalists Sumit Antil, Avani Lekhara and Navdeep Singh were in attendance on Wednesday (September 25) India Today conclave. During this time, he expressed his heartfelt feelings. After winning the gold medal, a video of Navdeep went viral. For this, people are even calling it Navdeep Kohli 2.2. One user once said that it would eat the best comedian Kapil Sharma.
This is how Avni-Sumit and Navdeep won gold
Let us tell you that Avani Lekara won India’s first gold medal at the Paris Paralympics. She successfully defended the women’s 10-meter air rifle championship. This is his third Paralympic medal overall. With this, she became the first Indian female athlete to win three medals.
Navdeep Singh won India’s 29th and final medal in the men’s javelin throw F41. He won the gold medal. Although Navdeep finished second in the event, his silver medal was upgraded to gold after Iran’s Sadeh Beit Sanya was disqualified.
Sumit Antil won the gold medal in the men’s javelin F 64 event. He became the first Indian male athlete to win back-to-back gold medals. Let us know what these three gold medalists had to say at the India Today conclave…
“Chandu went to Paris while watching the movie “Champions””
Chandu Champion actor Kartik Aryan was the first to speak at the India Today Conclave. Afterwards, when asked about watching the film, Navdeep said – I downloaded the film Chandu Champion and watched it before going to the Paris Paralympics.
A video of Navdeep after the golden toss went viral, in which he can be seen celebrating. In response, Navdeep said: “This is the joy of waving the Indian flag abroad.” It is best to listen to it on mute. When the video went viral, Navdeep said about the best comment, “One user wrote Kohli 2.2… Another user wrote – Mini Kohli”. Another user wrote – This will eat Kapil Sharma.
What does Navdeep like most about people?
Your support reached 6 figures after winning the gold medal? To this, Navdeep said – I don’t know, bro. What kind of comments have people made about you? Is there anything special to you?
To which Navdeep responded – This has happened many times. Received pass-by comments many times. If I counted them one by one, it would take a day. If I had remembered this, I wouldn’t have gotten here. I wanted to do something different with my identity. They used to call me different names. Sumit Andil calls me Rambu. That’s camaraderie and friendship, but beyond that there’s a lot of names I don’t like.
How did Avni’s life change after the accident?
Avni talks about the changes in the Paralympics – I didn’t know anything when I started. Which category to participate in? Now a lot has come to light. There is a lot of discussion about the Paralympics in the media. Now people are starting to understand the Paralympics.
You were involved in a car accident when you were 10 years old. What was your life experience like after that? In this regard, Avni said: “I was normal before the accident, but after the accident everything had to start from scratch.” She could not move her legs. Can’t get up. I got scared after seeing the trucks and cars. Learned to sit in a wheelchair. Gradually everything became a habit.
“When I went abroad, I saw a lot of athletes who used to drive and do other jobs by themselves. I got inspiration from him and it was very exciting for me. I was scared many times during this time. But now I’ve learned everything.
When answering this question, Sumit said – I had an accident in 2015, and I didn’t know about the Paralympics at that time. But it’s through social media and other people that we know. Now I also receive many calls saying that I have also encountered an accident and what should I do. But after an accident, it takes a long time to come to terms with things. It also took me 2 years.
Do you want people’s sympathy or favor?
In this regard, Avni said – When I went shopping, many people said that you are in a wheelchair, I didn’t expect you to do this. People see the wheelchair in front of me. Even my family, siblings and friends didn’t treat me like this. Everyone supports me. The unexpected girl who came to me was afraid to go out with her family because she was in a wheelchair. But none of my brothers or anyone made me feel that way.
Samit said – The most common thing for all Paralympic athletes is the support of their family. After the accident, my family gave me a bicycle. Then I won’t be afraid of anything. He even worked in the fields. But biking and running seem easy. Walking with artificial legs is common abroad, but in India, people look at us in surprise when we go out.
Gold Medalist Navdeep spoke about people’s attitude – if someone laughs at you, then if there is good understanding between you, it won’t happen. In all these matters, understanding is important.
