"Started javelin throw in 2016 after watching Neeraj...": India's Paris 2024 para athletes acknowledge World Champion's influence in athletics

Paris [France], September 2 : Indian para-javelin throwers Bhavanaben Chaudhary and Navdeep Singh praised the feats of Olympic and World Champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra saying that post his gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, people began getting interested in athletics.
Bhavanaben is a javelin thrower in F46 category while Navdeep competes in F41 category competing at Paris Paralympics.
Speaking to ANI, Bhavanaben said, "Preparation has been nice and I would try my best to win a medal for the country. Participated in Para-Asian Games, I really performed well, finished at fourth and got to learn a lot. I threw well in the trials as well."
"After Neeraj Chopra won the medal at the Olympics, people started to know about Javelin and started taking an interest in athletics," she added.

Navdeep, who competed in the Paralympics 2020 at Tokyo, also said that Neeraj was the reason why he started playing the javelin throw.
"This is my second Paralympics and we are all excited to perform well in the Paralympics...I started playing Javelin in 2016 after watching Neeraj Chopra perform well. The Indian team is performing very well at the Paralympics and it is motivating us a lot," said Navdeep.

India has secured a total of seven medals at the ongoing Paris Paralympics, with one gold medal, two silvers, and four bronze medals.
Preeti Pal clinched the bronze medal in the 200m T-35 race on Sunday. With this medal, Preeti created history as she became the first-ever Indian woman athlete to win 2 medals in the track & field events at the Paralympics, or Olympics. In this event, Preeti registered her personal best as she finished the race in 30.01 seconds. She had also secured a bronze medal in the women's T35 100 m race after clocking 14.21 seconds, which is also her personal best.
Nishad Kumar clinched a silver medal in the men's high jump - T47 final on early Monday morning. Nishad, who also finished second in Tokyo three years ago, achieved his season-best performance with a leap of 2.04 meters, earning him the silver.
Rubina finished third and bagged a bronze medal in the P2-Women's 10M Air Pistol SH-1 final on Saturday. She gathered a total of 211.1 points in the final. Javanmardi Sareh of Iran finished with gold (236.8 points) and Turkey's Ozgan Aysel went on to win the silver medal (231.1 points).
On Friday, reigning Paralympic champion, Avani Lekhara maintained her winning streak and struck gold in the women's 10m air rifle final at the ongoing Paris Paralympics. Shooter Mona Agarwal bagged the bronze medal at the same event.
Lekhra dominated the final of the women's 10m air rifle and secured the top place with 249.7 points, which is also her personal best.
South Korea's Yunri Lee won the silver medal after finishing in second place with a points of 246.8, while, India's Mona bagged the bronze medal with a total points of 228.7.
India's silver medal came in shooting as well, with Manish Narwal getting a silver in the men's P1 10 m air pistol SH1 competition.
This year, India has sent its largest Paralympics contingent ever, comprising 84 athletes across 12 sports, a testament to the country's expanding para-sports ecosystem. India's participation in the Paris 2024 Paralympics marks not only a significant increase in numbers but also in medal hopes, as the nation aims to surpass its previous achievements in Tokyo.
Tokyo 2020 was India's most successful Paralympic Games, with the country winning 19 medals, including five golds, eight silver and six bronzes.