Boria Majumdar in Paris
It has been a stellar Paralympics for India – 29 medals don’t come easy, and speak of a revolution back home. From a solitary medal in 2012 to 29 just 12 years later is serious progress. And that’s what brings me to this piece, my penultimate one from here in Paris as we get ready to leave for home.
For the last few weeks, we have repeatedly talked about Harvinder Singh, Sumit Antil, Sheetal Devi, Nitesh Kumar, Preethi Pal and the like. We have written about them and their stories. Celebrated them and given them their due. But now, for the Paralympic movement to become all-encompassing and sustainable in India, we need to make sure they don’t disappear from the radar. It is not as if they will stop competing, and resurface four years later during the Paralympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028. They will compete at the World Championships, Asian Para Games, Commonwealth Games and many other competitions. And it is essential for us all to stay with them and make sure they are talked and written about. That’s how the masses will start to identify with them, and the Paralympics and para sport will then become mainstream.
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Sheetal, for example, is now a global story. A number of journalists have covered her story here. At 17, she is a future star and it will be important to see how she realises her potential going forward. There have been far too many instances of people not doing justice to the talent they have, and it is the job of the media to hold up a mirror in case we need to. While we will all start to move to cricket once the season starts, it will be equally important to cover Olympic and Paralympic sport with the same passion. More coverage means more stories, and that will automatically translate into more corporate support and brand endorsements. With more investment, there will be more athletes that come to the fore, and the number of medals could well touch 40 at LA ’28.
Paris 2024 has the potential to be Paralympics’ 1983 moment. All of a sudden, there is talk of it everywhere. The Prime Minister has made calls every single day to congratulate the athletes, and already, we have heard of multiple corporates signing up Sheetal. A number of felicitation programmes have been lined up for Sumit, Nitesh, Praveen and Avani, and corporate India is keen to support these stars. There is a groundswell of interest and that’s where the media has a part to play.
We can’t just disappear thinking it is a job well done. The Paralympics don’t come every four years, they come every day, to paraphrase Abhinav Bindra. If we continue to back these men and women and the ones who will emerge on the scene in the next few years, there is every reason to believe India can make it to the top 10 of the medals tally at LA ’28. The foundation has been laid in Paris. Now it is time to build the superstructure, and make sure that the foundation is further strengthened.
Also Read: Come on, Paris, do better – The case of Harvinder and the stolen mascot