13

Mar

Volunteers and scribes make up for the absence of India in the Winter Paralympics

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Prabhjot Singh

Toronto, Canada | Friday | 13 March 2026

After a superb performance by its athletes in the last summer Paralympics in Paris two years ago, many expected India to showcase its strength in the winter Paralympics. Located in a tropical warmer zone, India has yet to make its debut in the Winter Paralympics.

Though two of its athletes—Arif Mohammad Khan and Stanzin Lundup, both from Kashmir—participated in the Winter Olympic Games, they finished at inconsequential positions. It went unrepresented in the Paralympics.

Interestingly, in the Paris (summer) Paralympics, India finished an impressive 19th with a rich haul of 29 medals, including seven gold, its best tally in any Olympic event. Though China, like the Winter Paralympics, finished at the top in Paris with a massive tally of 221 medals, including 94 gold, India was the third among the Asian nations. Japan had finished 11th with 41 medals, including 14 gold. Canada was 13th with the same number of medals—29—as India had.

Article at a Glance
The article highlights India’s absence from the Winter Paralympics despite its strong performance in the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, where the country finished 19th with 29 medals, including seven gold.
India has yet to debut in the Winter Paralympics, although athletes Arif Mohammad Khan and Stanzin Lundup from Kashmir previously competed in the Winter Olympics with modest results. The Winter Paralympics are smaller in scale, featuring 611 athletes from 55 nations and 71 gold medals.
China currently leads the medal tally. Even without athletes, Indians remain present at the event through other roles. Journalist Ranjith Mani from Bengaluru is covering the games, while medical scientist Soumick Chatterjee is volunteering at the media centre. Volunteers from other South Asian countries are also contributing.

Canada, however, had more gold, 10.

The Summer Paralympics were a much bigger show with 4433 athletes from 170 nations, with 549 gold medals at stake. Here, there are 71 gold medals at stake, and the number of athletes is 611 from 55 nations.

In the ongoing Winter Paralympics, China is the undisputed leader with a total haul of 27 medals, including 10 gold and seven silver, while Canada has logged in 10 medals, including a gold and a silver.

Participation is more important than winning medals alone. Indian athletes may be missing from competition arenas, but sports enthusiasts from the fastest-growing economy are a visible minority here.

A journalist, Ranjith Mani, has travelled all the way from Bengaluru to do freelancing. It is his first experience covering the Olympics/Paralympics, and he is excited about it. He has been to Corina and other venues in the mountains, as well as watching Para Ice Hockey at Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena.

Also here, but in a different role, is a medical scientist, Soumick Chatterjee, working in AI medical imaging. He was in Germany for five years before moving to Italy three years ago with his girlfriend. His field of work has been medical imaging and genetics. He likes his assignment as a volunteer at the Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Media Centre.

There are several volunteers from other South Asian nations, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal, as none of these nations has any athletes here.

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