Harvinder Singh won gold in the men’s individual recurve open competition, three years after earning India’s first Paralympic medal in Para archery.
Three years after winning India’s first Paralympic archery medal, Harvinder Singh made more history by earning the country’s first gold in the sport. After the scoreboard showed that he won the final of the men’s individual recurve open competition, he took a deep breath and let the victory sink in.
“The thing that was in my mind was, ‘I have done it for India’ because at the last Paralympics, I just won bronze. I had to change the colour and perform well, and these are the things that I have done,” Singh said.
“Then finally, I took a long breath and said, ‘Oh, I finally got the gold.’”
Singh won the gold medal match against Poland’s Lukasz Ciszek in straight sets, shooting the centre of the target four times in the process. The crowd at the Invalides clapped after every arrow the Indian athlete shot.
Mohammad Reza Arab Ameri of Iran took bronze.
