Preeti Pal won the bronze medal in the women’s T35 category 100 meter event on Friday with a personal best time of 14.21 seconds, giving India its first athletics medal in a track event at the Paralympics. All the medals India has won in athletics since the 1984 edition have been in field events. Preeti, the daughter of a farmer from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, opened India’s athletics medal account on the second day of the Paralympics.
Preeti came to Paris after winning a bronze medal in the same event at the World Para Athletics Championships in May. China’s Zhou Jia (13.58) won the gold and Guo Qianqian (13.74) won the silver. Preeti was competing in the Paralympics for the first time. This is her first medal in the Paralympics.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Another proud moment for India, Preeti Pal won bronze medal in 100m T35 event at Paralympics 2024. Congratulations to her. This success will definitely inspire budding athletes.”
Preeti’s performance was a repeat of the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships held in Kobe, Japan, in which Chinese athletes Jia and Qianqian won gold and silver medals respectively. The T35 classification is for players with coordination disorders such as hypertonia, ataxia and athetosis and cerebral palsy.
Shooter Manish Narwal won the silver medal, India got the third medal in shooting
Preeti said, “This was my first Paralympics and I still can’t believe that I have won a medal.” She said, “I feel proud that I won India’s first track medal in the Paralympics.” Preeti will also participate in the T35 200m event in which she won a bronze medal in the World Para Athletics Championship.