India’s para-archer Harvinder Singh made history on September 4, Wednesday by winning the first-ever Paralympic gold medal in the discipline for the country in Paris. Harvinder defeated Poland’s Lukasz Ciszek 6-0 with a dominant performance in the final of the Men’s Individual Recurve Open, earning India’s 4th gold medal at the Paris Paralympics 2024. This was India’s second medal of the day. Harvinder had an excellent start to the final, scoring 9, 10, and 9 with his first three arrows, while Ciszek scored 9, 7, and 8. In the next set, both archers scored 9s with their first two arrows, but Harvinder scored a 10 to take a 4-0 lead. Harvinder then secured the gold medal with two 10s and a 9 in the third set, as Ciszek could only manage a 7 and two 9s. This was Harvinder’s second Paralympic medal, as he had previously won a bronze in Tokyo in 2021.

Devi won a bronze medal in the Mixed Team Compound Open event. Harvinder Singh, from a farming family in Haryana’s Kaithal district, contracted dengue at just one and a half years old. Due to the treatment, he lost the use of his legs. Despite this early challenge, Harvinder discovered his passion for archery after watching the 2012 London Paralympics. With the support of his coach, he made his debut at the 2017 Para Archery World Championship, finishing in 7th place. His breakthrough came in 2018 when he won a gold medal at the Jakarta Asian Para Games. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Harvinder for his performance on Wednesday.

“A very special Gold in Para Archery! Congratulations to Harvinder Singh for winning the Gold medal in the Men’s Individual Recurve Open at the #Paralympics2024! His precision, focus and unwavering spirit are outstanding. India is very happy with his accomplishment” posted Narendra Modi.

-Sanyogita