On Day 8 of the Paris Paralympics, India achieved a significant milestone by reaching 25 medals for the first time in its Paralympics history. Kapil Parmar etched his name in the record books by claiming India’s first-ever Paralympics medal. His bronze helped increase India’s medal tally to 25, which includes 5 gold, 9 silver, and 11 bronze medals.
Kapil clinched the bronze in the Men’s -60kg J1 category by quickly overpowering Brazil’s Elielton de Oliveira in a mere 33 seconds by Ippon. He began his day with a 10-0 victory over Venezuela’s Dennis Marcos Blanco, secured again by Ippon. However, he suffered a defeat 0-10 against Seyed Meysam of Iran in his next match.
Harvinder Singh and Pooja Jatyan faced a disheartening defeat in the bronze medal match of Mixed Team Recurve Archery against Slovenia’s Dejan Fabcic and Ziva Lavrinc. The match had concluded in a 4-4 tie after four sets, and the subsequent shootout saw Harvinder and Pooja narrowly lose 17-19.
The Indian duo triumphed over pairs from Australia and Poland in the initial round and quarterfinals, respectively, with scores of 5-4 and 6-0. However, they were subsequently defeated by Italy with a score of 2-6 in the semifinals. Harvinder was aiming for his third Paralympic medal, while Pooja was looking for her first one.
Simran Sharma, with her guide Abhay Singh, missed out on a podium finish in the Women’s 100m T12 event of the Paris 2024 Paralympics, coming in fourth with a timing of 12.31 seconds. Omara Durand Elias of Cuba won gold crossing the finish line in a time of 11.81 seconds with guiding support from Yuniol Kindelan. Silver was bagged by Ukraine’s Oksana Boturchuk and her guide Mykata Barabanov, clocking 12.17 seconds while the bronze was claimed by Katrin Mueller of Germany and her guide Noel-Phillippe Fiener, with a timing of 12.26 seconds.