India's Trailblazing Para-Athlete Preethi Pal Earns Bronze Medal

In a continued show of strength and determination, Indian para-athlete Preethi Pal secured a bronze medal in the T-35 200m race held on Sunday. Clocking a personal best of 30.01s, she finished behind China's Zhou Xia, who clocked 28.15s, and Gou Qianqian at 29.09s.

Preethi Pal, a native of Muzzarfarnagar, has been steadily making her mark in Indian sports history. On the previous Friday, she earned the honor of being the first Indian para-athlete to clinch a track medal at the Paralympics. She achieved this by winning a bronze in the women's 100m T35, where she finished behind the same two Chinese athletes, recording a personal best of 14.21s.

The 200m race saw Preethi off to a good start, where she comfortably established a fair gap between herself and the fourth position holder Suwaed Fatimah, who finished a second behind on 31.06s. This was certainly a rapid-paced race, with participants in second to fifth places all recording personal best times.

Being a T35 category participant, Preethi competes with other para-athletes who have coordination impairments. Diagnosed with cerebral palsy at a young age, she embraced the world of para sports, despite the condition significantly affecting her movements. Preethi initially received training in Meerut before relocating to New Delhi, where she trained on a synthetic track.

This medal is the sixth for India in these games and has elevated the morale of the entire contingent, intensifying their ambition to surpass their previous highest tally of 19 from Tokyo. The impressive feat comes especially after a challenging medal-less Saturday.