Deepa Malik the first Indian Para athlete to win a Paralympic medal has expressed her wish to see India win at least 25 to 30 medals in the upcoming Paralympic Games. Deepa Malik also said that India’s performance in the Paralympics has improved over the years and the Indian athletes are expected to excel once again at the Paralympics.

Deepa Malik Confident Of India’s Performance In Paralympic

The Optimism

In the words of Deepa Malik “In the 2012 London Paralympics, no woman represented India, and we secured only one medal. In the 2016 Rio Paralympics, 19 athletes represented the country in five sports disciplines, and we won four medals. In the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, three women won medals, and our 54-member contingent brought home 19 medals,” Malik was quoted as saying by The Bridge.

The Stint

Talking about her stint as the president of the Paralympic Committee of India from 2020 to 2024 Deepa Malik said that the Indian contingent has grown in numbers in the last few editions of the Paralympics and she expects at least 25 to 30 medals this time around.

According to Deepa Malik “Until March, I was the PCI president, so I can’t shy away from my responsibility. I am tracking the progress of our para-athletes and expect 25-30 medals in Paris,” she added.

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The Future

Deepa Malik sounded hopeful while talking about the future of para-athletes in India due to the increased amount of commitment from the sponsors and growth in the overall Indian contingent as it is quite encouraging as far as the growth of the sports for para-athletes is concerned. Reaction on the same Deepa Malik said “With a total of 12 sports and a squad of 80-plus athletes, the graph is going up for India. It is a good time for para-athletes,” she concluded.

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The Performance

If we talk about Deepa Malik’s performance on the international stage the former PCI president was the first Indian woman para-athlete to win a medal at the Paralympics game in Rio in the year 2016. Deepa Malik also won numerous titles at the World Championships alongside winning a Gold medal at the Para Athletic Grand Prix in the F-53/54 Javelin event. Deepa Malik was also conferred with the prestigious Padam Shree Award in 2017.