India at the Paralympic Games Part 1, 1968 Tel Aviv and 1972 Heidelberg: Murlikant Petkar First Indian to Win Gold Medal at Paralympics
India first participated in the 1968 Paralympics at Tel Aviv. At 1972 in Heidelberg, Murlikant Petkar won their first medal, a gold in 50m freestyle swimming, setting a world record in the process.
The first edition of the Paralympic Games, at Rome in 1960, were part of the annual International Stoke Mandeville Games. The term ‘Paralympic Games’ was coined only in 1984. Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964 included only para-athletes with a disability in the spinal cord. Until 1988, these were the only editions that hosted the same editions of both the Olympics and the Paralympics. Team India’s Theme Song for Paralympics Tokyo 2020 Launched in Presence of Sports Minster Anurag Thakur and PCI President Deepa Malik, Watch Video.
India did not participate in either, but sent eight men and two women to Tel Aviv in 1968. They returned empty handed. Then, at Heidelberg in 1972, Murlikant Petkar struck gold – literally – to help India finish 25th.
An army veteran, Petkar sustained multiple bullet wounds and was run over by a military vehicle during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War. He was disabled for life, but he refused to give up. He took to multiple para sports following his disability, and even participated in the Tel Aviv Paralympics in Men’s Table Tennis Singles C. Tokyo Paralympics 2020: You Are All Winners and Role Models, PM Narendra Modi Tells Tokyo-Bound Para Athletes.
In 1972, he became the first Indian to win a medal at the Paralympics – and it was a gold medal. Not only that, at 37.33 seconds, he set a new world record in Men’s 50m Freestyle 3 Swimming. To give an idea of his tremendous versatility, Petkar also qualified for the finals of both Javelin Throw C and Precision Javelin Throw at Heidelberg, apart from participating in Shot Put 3 and Slalom 3.
Petkar got a rousing reception back home, but despite his achievement, it would be years before India took to the Paralympics as seriously as they should have. Petkar was honoured with the Padma Shri in 2018.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 21, 2021 03:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).