Deaflympics 2021: Know India’s medal winners
India won 16 medals at the Deaflympics 2021. This includes eight golds, one silver and seven bronze.
Deaflympics 2021 was held at Festa da Uva Main Pavilion in the city of Caxias do Sul in southern Brazil. The quadrennial event began on May 1 and concluded on May 15 with around 2,100 athletes from 72 countries participating at the Games.
India sent a contingent of 65 athletes to compete in 11 sports, making it the country’s largest-ever representation at Deaflympics since making its debut in 1965.
The first edition of the Deaflympics, then known as the International Silent Games, were held in Paris in 1924.
At the last edition in Turkey in 2017, the 46-member Indian contingent returned with five medals – a gold, a silver and three bronze. Wrestler Virender Singh defended his title in the 74kg freestyle event while Tokyo Olympian golfer Diksha Dagar claimed silver. Both athletes participated at the Deaflympics 2021, the 24th edition of the Games.
In the 2021 edition, India recorded their best performance at the Deaflympics by winning 16 medals, including eight golds. India finished ninth in the Deaflympics 2021 medals tally. Ukraine led the table with 62 golds (along with 38 silvers and 38 bronze and an overall tally of 138).
India's previous best came at Sofia 1993 when they bagged seven medals, including five gold and two bronze. India also won seven medals each at Copenhagen 1997 (3 gold, 3 silvers, 1 bronze) and at Melbourne 2005 (3 golds, 1 silver, 3 bronze).
In Brazil, badminton player Jerlin Jayaratchagan won three gold medals - in the women's singles, mixed doubles and the mixed team event. Shooter Dhanush Srikanth, who shot a world record score of 247.5 to win the 10m air rifle event title, won two gold medals. Meanwhile, tennis ace Prithvi Sekhar pocketed three medals and wrestler Virender Singh managed to bag his fifth straight Deaflympics medal with a bronze.
This is the first time the Deaflympics was held in South America. It was scheduled to take place from December 5 to 21 last year but was postponed due to COVID-19.