India's star athlete Preethi Pal won India's first-ever medal in the 100m event at the Paralympics with a bronze in the 2024 Paris Games on Friday, August 30. Preethi finished the women's 100m T35 event with 14.21s, her personal-best record, to claim India's third medal at the 17th Summer Paralympic Games.
The 24-year-old athlete from Uttar Pradesh's Meerut produced the best performance of her career to finish third behind the Chinese duo of Xia Zhou and Qianqian. Xia claimed the top spot on the podium with a dominant finish of 13.58 and Gou clocked 13.74 to win a silver medal.
Women's 100m T35 results
- Xia Zhou (China) - 13.58 (SB)
- Qianqian Gou (China) - 13.74 (PB)
- Preethi Pal (India) - 14.21 (PB)
Preethi won a bronze at the World Para Athletics Championships 2024 in Kobe earlier this year to qualify for the finals at the Paris Games. She narrowly missed out on two medals at the Para Asian Games in Hangzhou last year but was a strong contender for a medal in Paris.
Preethi revealed her excitement and joy for winning her first medal in the Paralympics and added that she is feeling proud of winning India's first track medal.
"This was my first Paralympics and I am still yet to believe that I have won a medal," Preethi said. "I am feeling proud that I have won India's first track medal in the Paralympics."
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Preethi for her historic feat at the Paris Paralympics.
Meanwhile, India opened their medal account on Day 2 of the sporting events at the Paris Paralympics. Mona Agarwal claimed a bronze and that star shooter Avani Lekhara claimed a historic gold in the women's 10m air rifle event on Friday. India is expected to add more medals to their tally with Manish Narwal featuring in the men's 10m air pistol finals later today.
