First Gold medal of the Rio Paralympic Games 2016
Mariyappan Thangavelu
- India have won its first Gold medal of the Rio Paralympic Games.
- Mariyappan Thangavelu in the Men's High Jump T-42 event brought laurels to the country as he finished first to give India's its third ever Gold at the Games and the first after 12 years.
- Bronze in the event also went to India through Varun Singh Bhati.
- India had claimed a Gold and a Bronze at Athens in 2004. Javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia had then won the Gold, with Rajinder Singh claiming the Bronze in powerlifting.
- In the last edition of the Games in London, India had attained just a Silver.
- India had won its first ever Paralympics Gold in the 1972 Heidelberg Games through Swimmer Murlikant Petkar.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Mariyappan on winning a Gold and Varun for the Bronze at the Paralympic Games.