The host completed their campaign at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix with 208 medals including 75 golds, 69 silvers and 64 bronze medals. Double Paris 2024 Paralympics medallist Preeti Pal stole the show with her gold medal win in the 200m event. This was her second win in the tournament after adding a gold medal in the 100m event.
Preeti secured a decisive win in the women’s 200m event for India on Friday, March 14, at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix. The 25-year-old from Meerut finished in first place with a time of 30.26 seconds. Russia’s Karina Machulskaia finished with silver in 32.22 seconds, while Bina Shambhubha got a bronze for India with 32.35 seconds.
Preeti who won two goals in the tournament and shared her experience during the post-win interview. She also reflected on her performance and the upcoming event that she will be participating in.
“I narrowly missed the target I was aiming for at the Grand Prix by a microsecond. Overall, things are going well. In four days, I will be heading to the Nationals, and since this is the off-season, I am satisfied with my performance,” she said.
“My personal best is 30.03 seconds, and in practice I have already clocked 29.6 seconds, which is encouraging. However, I noticed that I get tired as I approach the finish line, something that didn’t happen before. I am currently working on improving that,” she added.
A total of eight teams, including hosts featured at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix 2026. After India, Russia finished in second place of the medal tally with 35 including 15 gold, 14 silver, 6 bronze. Bosnia and Herzegovina were tied at third place with three medals, one gold, and two silver.
India also showcased a dominating performance in the men’s shot put F57 by winning all the three positions. Shubham Juyal won gold with a throw of 14.45 metres, Bhagat Singh won silver with 13.29 metres and Priyans Kumar claimed bronze with 13.07 metres.
Meanwhile, in the men’s 200m T35 event, India’s Vinay bagged gold with a timing of 28.18 seconds. Anubhav Choudhary finished with silver in 29.49 seconds, while Hong Kong’s Chui Yiu Bao ended with bronze.
India also secured a clean swept victory in the men’s 200m T37-T44 through Rakeshbhai Bhatt, Siddharth Manju Bellary, and Ravikiran Asarelli. The men’s 800m T53–T54 also got three Indian podium finishers from Manojkumar Sabapathi, Manikandan Jothi, and Kamalakanta Nayak.
