India’s largest contingent at Deaflympics returned with the richest haul of 16 medals from the Games that was held at Caxias do Sul in Brazil.
In the 24th edition of the Deaflympics around 2,100 athletes from 72 countries participated that took place from May 1-15. India sent the largest-ever representation in Deaflympics with a contingent of 65 athletes to compete in 11 sports.
A total of 16 medals were won by the Indian athletes- 8 gold, 1 silver and 7 bronze with the Shooting team picking up 3 gold and 2 bronze. India’s previous best came at Sofia 1993 when they bagged seven medals, including 5 gold and 2 bronze. India also won seven medals at Copenhagen 1997 and Melbourne 2005.
In this edition, Indian shooter Dhanush Srikanth, created a world record score of 247.5 to win the 10m air rifle event title. Badminton player Jerlin Jayaratchagan won two gold medals and Tennis player Prithvi Sekhar clinched three medals. India’s most successful Deaflympics athlete, wrestler Virender Singh managed to bag his fifth straight medal with a bronze. Olympian Diksha Dagar won gold in Golf.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Indian contingent for their performance at the Deaflympics 2021. He will host the entire contingent at his residence on the morning of May 21.
