The 2025 World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi came to end with a best-ever, record haul of medals for hosts India.
The more eye-catching headlines coming out of the event may have involved stray dog bites and empty stadiums, but away from these administrative issues, the spotlight should firmly shine on the Indian para-athletes and their strong performance at home.
India's 73-member contingent won a total of 22 medals - six gold, nine silver, and seven bronze, finishing 10th in the medal tally.
This was an increase from the last edition, in Kobe, Japan in 2024, where India won 17 medals (six gold medals, five silver medals, and six bronze). For context, India had won nine medals in the Dubai edition in 2019 and 10 medals at Paris in 2023. The graph is trending upwards.
The fact that there are the same number of gold medals won in Kobe and now Delhi is also a positive, as there was a much stronger field in a non-Paralympics year. Indeed, 22 medals overall is very close to the entire Indian contingent's record-breaking haul at last year's Paris Paralympics, where India won 29 medals, of which 17 were won in para-athletics.
One of the biggest barometers of success in a major athletics event, beyond medals, is the personal best of an athlete at the biggest level. In this context, Indians set three championship records and seven Asian records, while there were about 30 personal bests during the competition.
It's a mark of how much the profile of para sports in India has grown that this haul of 22 doesn't exceed expectations; it matched the expectations from this current lot of Indian para-athletes. The fact that there were such high expectations from the Indian contingent is what should be celebrated. If one had to be critical, India could have won even more than 22, counting the fourth-place finishes as the Paralympic medallists who missed out on the home podium.
The repeat medal winners
One of the most encouraging aspects of India's performance were the repeat medal winners, the ones who stayed consistent through the three major world events in the span of 15 months - two World Championships and the Paralympics. These are names to be celebrated.
The first name on this list will always be one Sumit Antil, who won his third straight World Championship gold and became the most successful Indian in Para Worlds history. Given his calibre, and the vast difference between him and his nearest competitor in men's javelin F64 (for athletes with a prosthesis), this gold medal was not really in doubt. Even on a day when he was less that 100%, he threw a new Championship record of 71.37m, breaking his own mark. Yet, he was disappointed that he couldn't break his own world record. That's the kind of standard Sumit has set.
Simran Sharma, a sprinter who competes in T12 category for visually impaired athletes with a guide, doubled her medal from Kobe. Last year, she won gold in women's 200m T12 and in Delhi, she won silver in that and gold in women's 100m T12. Running almost daily given heats, semifinals and finals across 2 events, she showed her improvements from Kobe to Paris to Delhi.
Nishad Kumar (men's high jump T47, for athletes who are amputees) upgraded his silver to gold.
Defending champions Deepthi Jeevanji (women's 400m T20, for athletes with an intellectual impairment) and Ekta Bhyan (women's club throw F51, for athletes with spinal injuries who throw from seated position) won silver in their respective events this time.
Paralympic champions Dharambir (men's club throw F51, for athletes who throw from a seated position) and Navdeep (men's javelin throw F41, for short-statured athletes) won silver, upgrading their bronze from Kobe.
Preeti Pal, who had won double bronze in women's 100m T35 and women's 200m T35 (for athletes who have cerebral palsy or other impairments) at the Paralympics won a silver and bronze this time.
Yogesh Kathuniya, the serial silver winner won got his third straight Worlds silver (to add to two Paralympics) with another in Men's Discus Throw F56 (for athletes who throw from a seated position).
One of the most unexpected champions was Shailesh Kumar won India's first gold medal, stunning Paralympic champion and heavy favourite Ezra Frech in men's High Jump T63 (for Athletes who are amputees) on the opening day of the competition.
Rise of javelin
Another significant pattern was the rise of javelin champions from India with as many as six medals and two double podiums. Apart from Sumit and Navdeep mentioned above, Sandip Sanjay Sargar and Sandeep won gold and silver in men's javelin throw F44 (for athletes who are amputees) while Rinku Hooda and Sundar Singh Gurjar won the gold and silver medals, respectively, in the men's javelin throw F46 class (for athletes who are amputees).
Incidentally, the Paralympic Committee of India head is Devendra Jhajharia, a two-time Paralympic, one-time Para World champ in javelin throw himself and it is the one athletics discipline that means the most to Indian sport.
The way ahead is bright
Not every medal, personal-best and season best can be individually illustrated in a review, and that itself is telling praise for India's performance at a World Championship at home.
That an Indian sporting contingent, competing at home in a World Championship, was expected to rake in gold medals based on their track record is not a small feat. That its para-athletics contingent, a sector of sportspersons who had to overcome more than average adversity and have often been overlooked in the past, putting in their best at the world stage makes this a performance to be noted and feted.
The way ahead for Indian para-sport is bright, even with all the challenges that the organisation of an event of this scale at home placed before them.
