‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’

The book explores the history of Paralympic sports in India. Despite participating in this format only since 1968, India has taken giant strides since the second decade of the new millennium. Her medal tally has recorded an ascending curve from 4 in the Rio Games in 2016 to 19 and 29 in the Tokyo and Paris editions of the competition held in 2021 and 2024 respectively. The contribution of medical science and its practitioners (such as Dr. Ludwig Guttmann and Dr. Antonia Maglio) in the development of the Paralympic category of sports deserves much appreciation. Its recognition with mainstream international athletics hinges on larger values of social inclusion and justice in global sports. In this connection, the roles of both print and electronic media are worth mentioning. On the other hand, the triumph of the Indian Paralympic athletes underlines that the sporting arena offers a level playing field whereby the developing countries and their developed counterparts can be placed on the same pedestal. In addition, identifying the para-sports persons with terms such as divyangjan provides a liberal and humanist understanding. It implies that they possess a divinely ordained physique which enables them to achieve feats in high performing sports. It puts them at par with the Olympian athletes. This is how the Paralympic participants conform to the Olympic motto of Citius (faster), Altius (higher) and Fortius (stronger) as proposed by Pierre de Coubertin in 1894. The success stories of real-life heroes are certainly inspirational for the common people.