PCI President Devendra Jhajharia confident of India winning more than 25 medals at Paris Paralympics

After the resounding success of the Olympic Games, Paris is now gearing up to host the Paralympic Games. This year’s Paralympics will begin on August 28 and after a great show at the Tokyo Paralympics where India bagged a highest ever 19 medals, the country is aiming to do even better at the Paris Paralympics. To this end, India will be sending a contingent of 84 Paralympic athletes to the French capital.

To help India achieve its goals, there could not have been a better man than Devendra Jhajharia. As an adaptive javelin thrower, Jhajharia won two gold medals at the Paralympic Games – the first Indian to do so. In total, the 43-year-old has three Paralympic medals and one gold and one silver from the World Adaptive Athletics Championships.

Jhajharia is now in charge of the affairs of the Paralympic Committee of India and has overseen India’s preparations for the Paris Paralympics.

In an exclusive conversation with CNBC-TV18, Jhajharia spoke at length about the improved performance of Indian para-athletes in international competitions, preparations for the Paris Paralympics and the challenges faced by Indian para-athletes in their sporting journey.

Below are excerpts from the interview:

India’s performance at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics and last year’s Asian Paralympics was good. In Tokyo, India won 19 medals and claimed a record 111 medals at the Asian Paralympics. What do you think led to the good showing at these two international events?

Devendra Jhajharia: The main reason is the support and motivation that our Prime Minister Narendra Modi gives us. He has always motivated the Paralympic athletes. Also, government programmes like Khelo India Games and Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) have helped. Many of our players are preparing with TOPS. Earlier, there were Olympic camps, six months before the Paralympic Games.

I remember when I won the medal at the Tokyo Paralympics, I got a call from SAI (Sports Authority of India) asking me where to hold camps for the Paris Paralympics. That was in 2021. Our athletes have been preparing since then.

For Paris our players are not only physically prepared, but also mentally.

Read also: India aims to win more than 25 medals at Paris Paralympics, says PCI chief Devendra Jhajharia

From Tokyo to the Paris Paralympics, how have our athletes prepared in the last three years? You mentioned earlier that India would win 25 or more medals in Paris, which sports are we focusing on?

Devendra Jhajharia: Our athletes have prepared well. Many of them have trained abroad and in India. Last time, India sent 56 athletes to the Tokyo Paralympics. This time, the size of the Indian contingent has increased to 84.

Our strength is athletics, where India will do well. We are also focusing on shooting and archery. Our badminton players are also good. We have medal hopes thanks to these players.

As an athlete with more than 20 years of experience, I constantly speak with athletes and their families. I ask all family members to demand that athletes perform well and not to put pressure on them to win medals.

As the PCI President, I have observed the athletes and based on that assessment, I can say that India has a chance to win more than 25 medals at the Paris Paralympics and India will be one of the top 20 medal-winning countries.

Are there any athletes who you think are strong contenders to win a medal at the Paris Paralympic Games?

Devendra Jhajharia: There are many athletes who are strong contenders to win medals. There are many Indian shooters who are ranked number one in the world. There are some track and field athletes who are also at the top. Our entire team is very strong. Wait and watch. India will win at least one medal every day.

The eldest member of the Indian contingent participating in the Paris Paralympics is Amit Saroha (39) and the youngest is Sheetal Devi, 17. Can you tell us about these two athletes?

Devendra JhajhariaAmit is an F-51 category athlete (F-51 refers to wheelchair events for athletes with lower body disabilities including paraplegia). He is a discus thrower. This will be his fourth Paralympic Games. He is also a two-time Asian Paralympic Games champion, a two-time World Championships silver medallist and has broken the Asian record in discus throw.

Sheetal Devi is an archer and has no upper limbs. [she was born with a rare medical condition called phocomelia People with phocomelia have malformed arms and legs]Despite her condition, she is an inspiration to the world. If any person in the world is feeling helpless or is under stress or pressure, then I urge them to watch videos of Sheetal practising archery. We have high hopes from Sheetal in the upcoming event. We hope Sheetal wins a medal this time. She is an inspiration to India and the rest of the world.

For the Paris Paralympics, India has expanded its participation to three new sports: Paralympic cycling, Paralympic rowing and blind judo. Could you tell us more about this?

Devendra Jhajharia:These three games are new for our country. We are participating in these games at the Paralympic level for the first time. Earlier, India was participating in nine sports events, this time we are participating in 12 sports. Our strength is increasing and we are growing. We are hopeful that athletes will win medals in these sports as well.

From your experience, what challenges do para athletes face in India and what role can society play in helping them?

Devendra JhajhariaThese Paralympic athletes are role models for the world because some of them don’t have a leg but they participate in long jump. Some don’t have a hand but they are javelin throwers. Some are blind but they are runners. This in itself is something important.

In my time, I had a hard time buying shoes, but today we try to make sure that our Paralympic athletes don’t have to face those kinds of challenges. I don’t want the next generation to have to face the kind of difficulties that I have faced.

We try to offer them every facility. We try to have a good training plan for them. We listen to them and solve all their problems. This improves the confidence of our athletes. We have the support of the federations, the nation and the government.

Earlier, you highlighted certain reasons why Indian athletes fail to perform well at the Olympics. Could you elaborate on this?

Devendra Jhajharia:I gave that speech after the 2016 Rio Paralympics, where I won a gold medal and broke the world record. At the time I said that we started talking about the Olympics just two months before the event. Why can’t we talk about the Olympics eight or four years in advance?

We started preparing for the Paris Paralympics as soon as the Tokyo Paralympics ended in 2021. It is on the basis of this change that I am confident in saying that India will win more than 25 medals in this Paris Paralympics. We need to keep discussing and talking about the Paralympics every day.

We have already started preparing for the Paralympic Games in 2028 and 2032, which is important.

What would be your message to our para athletes as they prepare to represent India in Paris?

Devendra JhajhariaI tell our Paralympic athletes that they are physically and mentally fit. They should not think too much. All they have to do is perform at their best. If they give their best, they will be satisfied and their chances of winning medals will increase. They should not feel pressure at any time.