The Tokyo Paralympics ended with a fitting bang—a gold snagged by badminton player Krishna Nagar which joined four more golds, eight silvers and six bronzes. Where the last games in 2016 saw a total tally of four medals, the 2021 tally reached a first time high of 19.

Disability still earns subtle side-looks on the streets, but this year shows that the administration is changing its mindset. As the Paralympians have detailed, support from the government and private players reached the para-athletes in a well-coordinated manner. If continued, Paris 2024 can only give us a better medal tally.

Under the Central government’s flagship Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), India’s top athletes are identified and their particular needs and demands met. This year’s entire contingent of 54 para-athletes were included in the TOPS list. This meant that the Sports Ministry installed a computerised digital target at the home of Avani Lekhara who brought in a bronze and gold in shooting this year. Similarly, silver-medalist Bhavina Patel received a “practice partner” robot with which she trained throughout the lockdown.

While sports is a state subject, there has been a push to shift it to the concurrent list instead. However, efforts which began in 2017 have stalled because a consensus with the states could not be reached.

In this endeavour, NGOs like GoSports Foundation too worked with the government to split responsibilities for individual athletes. “...for Avani, the Government looked after certain training and competitions abroad, and we paid for her coaching here. For Sumit Antil, we looked after his prosthetics and they took care of his travel to tournaments,” said Deepthi Bopaiah, executive director at GoSports.

Private players are still limited in the management and training of athletes, and there have been calls to encourage private initiative in the area.

As we gear up for Paris 2024, Tokyo shows that efforts to support the athletes—and the nature and direction of that support—can bring out the best in them, not to mention the millions more they inspire.