Paralympics 2024: India's medal tally hits 24 after gold from Harvinder and Dharambir, silver from Pranav

The Indian contingent's top show at the Paris Paralympics 2024 edition continued on Wednesday (Sep 4) with two more golds and twosilversduring Day 7 events. After Sachin Khilari's silver inshotput F46 final, archer Harvinder Singh scripted historywith a gold whereas Dharambir and compatriot Pranav Soorma completed a 1-2 in theclub throw - F51 finale, later in the evening. With this, India ended the day with their medal tally reaching a historic 24.

Talking about Harvinder,he wonthe nation’s first-ever Paralympic gold medal in archery, with a commanding performance in theIndividual Recurve Open finale, beating Poland's Lukasz Ciszek 6-0 to secure India’s fourth gold medal of the Games. Thus, this became India's maiden gold across Paralympics and Olympics in archery.

Harvinder started off with a bang, with a nearly flawless first set, scoring 9, 10, and 9, whereas his opponent Ciszek managed 9, 7, and 8 with his initial three arrows. The second set was a closely-contested affair, with both archers scoring 9s with their first two attempts. However, Harvinder went past Ciszek by a point by scoring 10, taking a 4-0 lead.

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In the third and decisive set, Harvinder confirmed his sensational winwith two 10s and a 9, while Ciszekonly returned with a 7 and two 9s.

Dharambir and Pranav, on the other hand, ensured India created historyby securing its first-ever 1-2 finish on the podium in a track and field event at the Paralympics, shortly after Harvinder's heroics. Notably, Dharambir's goldalso became India’s first medal in club throw in the history of the quadrennial sporting spectacle.

Dharambir didn't have the best of starts, making four foul attempts in successionbeforea 34.92m throw. Courtesy of thiseffort,the Indian club thrower ensured he stayed at thetop of the charts throughout the competition in the 10-man field.

Meanwhile, Pranav made his best effort in the first attempt and managed five throws in excess of33m to return with silver. Serbia's Zeljko Dimitrijevic ended with bronze courtesy of a throw of 34.18.

DHARAMBIR'S SERIES:x, x, x, x, 34.92m, 31.59m

PRANAV'S SERIES:34.59m, 34.19m, x, 34.50m, 33.90m, 33.70m

With 20 medals by the end of Day 6, on Tuesday (Sep 3), India already markedits best-ever run in Paralympic edition. With four medals being added on Day 7, the country'smedal tally is now at 24; occupying the 13th spot in the overall standings.