Prakash Padukone is an Indian former badminton player. He was ranked World No. 1 in 1980; the same year he became the first Indian to win the All England Open Badminton Championships. He was awarded the Arjuna award in 1972 and the Padma Shri in 1982 by the Government of India. He is one of the co-founders of Olympic Gold Quest, a foundation dedicated to the promotion of Olympic sports in India.
Devendra Jhajharia is an Indian Paralympic javelin thrower competing in F46 events. He is the first Indian Paralympics player to win two gold medals at the Paralympics. He won his first gold in the javelin throw at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, becoming the second gold medalist at the Paralympics for his country. At the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won a second gold medal in the same event, bettering his previous record. Devendra is currently being supported by the Olympic Gold Quest. He becomes India's most decorated Paralympic player by winning his third medal, a silver at the 2020 Summer Paralympics at Tokyo. In 2024, he was elected president of the Paralympic Committee of India.
India made its Summer Paralympic debut at the 1968 Games, competed again in 1972, and then was absent until the 1984 Games. The country has participated in every edition of the Summer games since then. It has never participated in the Winter Paralympic Games.
Thokchom Nanao Singh is an Indian boxer from Khoijuman Maning Leikai village in Bishnupur district of Manipur. He trains at Pune-based Army Sports Institute and is supported by Olympic Gold Quest, a not-for-profit foundation to identify and support Indian athletes.
Own the Podium is a Canadian not-for-profit organization. Originally created as Own the Podium - 2010 to prepare Canadian athletes to reach medal finishes at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, the program has since expanded to include a division for summer sports as well, known as Road to Excellence. As of 2012 the program's CEO is Anne Merklinger following the resignation of Alex Baumann for health reasons.
Shiva Thapa is an Indian boxer. Thapa participated in the 2012 London Olympics, and was the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics. Thapa is ranked 3rd in the bantamweight category in the AIBA Men's World Ranking. He is the third Indian to clinch gold at the Asian Games. Thapa is the third Indian boxer to win a medal at the AIBA World Boxing Championships. Thapa has been elected as a member of the International Boxing Association (amateur) Athletes Committee.
Australia competed at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece. It was Australia's 12th year of participation at the Paralympics. The team included 151 athletes. Australian competitors won 101 medals to finish fifth in the gold medal table and second on the total medal table. Australia competed in 12 sports and won medals in 8 sports. The Chef de Mission was Paul Bird. The Australian team was smaller than the Sydney Games due to a strict selection policy related to the athletes' potential to win a medal and the International Paralympic Committee's decision to remove events for athletes with an intellectual disability from the Games due to issues of cheating at the Sydney Games. This was due to a cheating scandal with the Spanish intellectually disabled basketball team in the 2000 Summer Paralympics where it was later discovered that only two players actually had intellectual disabilities. The IPC decision resulted in leading Australian athletes such as Siobhan Paton and Lisa Llorens not being able to defend their Paralympic titles. The 2000 summer paralympic games hosted in Sydney Australia proved to be a milestone for the Australian team as they finished first on the medal tally for the first time in history. In comparing Australia's 2000 Paralympic performance and their 2004 performance, it is suggested that having a home advantage might affect performance.
Prasana Karmakar is an Indian Para swimmer. He won 2 Bronze medals in 2014 Incheon Asian Games. He is also known for representing India as the swimming team coach for 2016 RIO Paralympic games.
The GoSports Foundation (GSF) is an independent, donor-funded non-profit venture working towards securing funds and professional expertise for some of India's junior Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Established in 2008, it has worked with numerous athletes from across multiple Olympic and Paralympic disciplines through its scholarship programs.
Mukesh Bansal is an Indian businessman and founder of the Indian fashion e-commerce company Myntra. He also the co-founder and CEO of cult.fit. Mukesh has been listed in the Best 40 Under 40 Entrepreneurs by Fortune magazine.
India competed in the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 August to 5 September 2021. Indian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Paralympics since 1984, though they made their official debut at the 1968 Summer Paralympics. This was India's most successful Paralympic season with 5 golds 8 silvers and 6 bronzes. Before this edition, India had won 12 medals of all previous Paralympics appearances combined.
Krishna Nagar is an Indian para-badminton player from Rajasthan. He had been ranked world number 2 in para-badminton men's Singles SH6. He won a gold medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. He is currently supported by OGQ.
Manish Narwal is an Indian Para Pistol Shooter. He ranks fourth in the world in Men's 10m Air Pistol SH1 according to the World Shooting Para Sport Rankings. Manish is currently supported by OGQ.
Avani Lekhara is an Indian Paralympian and rifle shooter from Rajasthan. She won a gold medal in the 10m air rifle standing and a bronze medal in the 50m rifle 3 positions at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. As of January 2023, Lekhara is ranked world no. 1 in Women's 10m Air Rifle standing SH1 and has competed in the 2018 Asian Para Games. She is currently supported by OGQ. She is also the first Indian woman to win multiple medals in a single Paralympic Games. She has been given out of turn appointment as Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) by the Government of Rajasthan.
Praveen Kumar is an Indian Paralympic athlete.
Harvinder Singh is an Indian paralympic archer from Haryana. He won a bronze medal in the men's singles recurve archery at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. It was the first ever Paralympic medal in archery for India.
Kapil Parmar is a para-athlete from Madhya Pradesh. He represented at the 2022 Asian Para Games held at Hangzhou, China and won a silver medal in the men's Judo 60 kg J1 event..
Dilip Mahadu Gavit is an Indian para athlete from Maharashtra. He competes in men's 400m T47. He qualified to represent India at the 2024 Summer Paralympics at Paris.He is currently supported by OGQ.
Sandip Sanjay Sargar is an Indian para athlete. He competes in men's javelin throw F64 event. He qualified to represent India at the 2024 Summer Paralympics at Paris. He is currenlty supported by OGQ.
Rongali Ravi is an Indian para athlete from Andhra Pradesh. He competes in the shot put F40 category. He qualified to represent India at the 2024 Summer Paralympics at Paris.He is currently supported by OGQ.
