Indian para-athletes eye 12 medals at Paralympics, Antil-led batch leaves for Paris in advance

New Delhi: Eyeing an unprecedented five gold and a dozen medals in total, the first batch of the Indian athletics team, including star javelin thrower Sumit Antil, left for the Paris Paralympics in advance to get acclimatised to the conditions.

The 16 para athletes will stay at hotels in Paris for a few days before entering the Games Village on August 25, three days before the Opening Ceremony.

The likes of Antil, who is bidding to become the first Indian to defend his Paralympics gold, will train at facilities near the French capital to acclimatise with the weather conditions there.

Para athletics events will be held from August 30 to September 8, the closing day of the Paralympics, at Stade de France, the same venue where the able-bodied athletes competed during the Paris Olympics.

"Sumit Antil and some other para athletes will train at Nelson Mandela Sports Complex for a few days before entering the Games Village," para-athletics head coach Satyanarayana told PTI.

Nelson Mandela Sports Complex is around 5km from Stade de France. It has state-of-the-art training facilities for athletics, rugby, tennis, wheelchair tennis and swimming.

"Some will stay at hotels near the Games Village and they can use the training facilities there during day time," he added.

Asked about Indian para-athletics team's medal prospects at the Paris Games, he said, "We are aiming for at least five gold and 12 medals in total. This will be our best performance in the Paralympics."

Satyanarayana's hopes stem from the unprecedented success at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan, in May where India had finished sixth in the medal tally with six gold, five silver and six bronze.

Antil (men's javelin F64), Deepthi Jeevanji (women's 400m T20), Sachin Khilari (men's shot put F46), Ekta Bhyan (women's club throw F51), Simran Sharma (women's 200m T12) and Mariyappan Thangavelu (men's high jump T42) won gold.

In the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021, India had won a record 19 medals (5 gold, 8 silver and 6 bronze).

India is sending its biggest ever team of 84 athletes across 12 sports to the Paralympics, with 38 from the para-athletics team.

Paralympic Committee of India President Devendra Jhajharia has predicted at least 25 medals from the Paris Games.

Antil and Bhagyashree Jadhav, who won a silver in Hangzhou Asian Para Games in women's shot put F34, will be the joint flag bearers for India during the Opening Ceremony, which will be held outside a stadium for the first time.

The ceremony will be held from Champs-Elysees to Place de la Concorde in the heart of Paris. The Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics was also held outside a stadium, on the banks of the Seine river, a first in the games' history.