Hoping that Tokyo Paralympics triumph will attract more stakeholders, says Deepa Malik
Deepa Malik, the President of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) is hoping that more stakeholders will lend them a hand of support after a historic campaign in Tokyo. The Indian contingent claimed a total of 19 medals, which includes five gold, eight silver, and six bronze medals.
The Indian contingent returned with a rich medal tally of 19 from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, their best ever haul ever by quite some distance. With a collection of five gold, eight silver, and six bronze medals respectively, India finished at the 24th spot in the overall rankings, out of 164 NOC’s competing.
Deepa Malik, the President of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) is hoping that more stakeholders will lend them a hand of support after the historic triumph in Tokyo.
"We are definitely hoping that more stakeholders will come forward and hold our hand. We as a federation are responsible to create new talent, identify and work with new talent, so that is the aim right now," said Deepa Malik, during a virtual interaction organized by broadcasters Eurosport and PCI.
Deepa, a silver medalist at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, stated that the immediate focus is now on identifying the next generation of para-athletes in the country. She feels that they need to give athletes a platform to get classified, go out and participate, get more opportunities and exposure, or else, new talents will get wasted.
"The Gen-Next is ready and roaring. We need to give them a platform to get classified and go out and participate, get international exposure, get more and more opportunities to get them medically classified, otherwise the new talent gets wasted. They have to get classified as soon as possible because they can then start training in the correct categorization," added the 2016 Rio Paralympian.