New Delhi, September 10
India's Paralympic silver medallist para-athlete Yogesh Kathuniya said on Tuesday that talking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi helped athletes to do better.
Kathuniya won the silver medal in the Men's Discus Throw F56 final. Kathuniya's best throw in the final of the event was 42.22 at the Stade de France. This was his second successive medal at the Paralympics after Tokyo 2020 with a best throw of 44.58 metres.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Indian contingent of the Paris Paralympics returned back to India after their record-breaking performance at the multi-sport event.
Speaking to ANI, Kathuniya said that he felt good after reaching India. He added that the para-athletes will start practicing to perform better in the upcoming events.
"It feels really good and even better on reaching India. We have received such a grand welcome. Talking to the Prime Minister always motivates us to do better. We will start once again and next year I will try to perform better,"
The Indian contingent concluded its Paralympics campaign in Paris on Sunday with a record haul of 29 medals, including seven golds, nine silvers, and 13 bronzes. The 29-medal tally is the most by India in the history of the Paralympics. Following the conclusion of the landmark campaign, India surpassed its record medal tally of 19, which was achieved at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. India ended the marquee event in the 18th position.
India rewrote several records and unlocked some new "firsts" at the Paralympic Games. Para-shooter Avani Lekhara became the first ever Indian woman to secure two Paralympic gold medals as she managed to defend her women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 shooting title with a world record score of 249.7 points.
India recorded a one-two finish at a para-athletics competition for the first time, with Dharambir and Parnav Soorma clinching gold and silver, respectively, in the men's club throw F51 event. This was among India's first-ever medals in this sport. Dharambir also set an Asian record of 34.92 m.
In the T64 high jump event, Praveen Kumar stood at the top of the podium with an Asian record-breaking jump of 2.08 m, landing India their sixth gold. India finished the competition with seven gold medals.
India also found its first-ever archery champion across the Olympics and Paralympics, with Harvinder Singh getting the gold in the individual recurve para-archery against Poland's Lukasz Ciszek.
Indian javelin throw ace Sumit Antil became the first Indian male to defend their Paralympics title, making it back-to-back gold in the F64 event with a stunning Paralympic record-breaking throw of 70.59 m. He broke his own previous record set during the Tokyo 2020 not once, but thrice.