Mandaviya congratulates Preeti Pal on Asian Para Games silver
Synopsis
Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya congratulated para-sprinter Preeti Pal after she clinched silver in the Women's 100m T35 Final at the Asian Para Games 2026, highlighting India's growing continental para-athletics presence backed by the Khelo India programme.
Key Takeaways
Preeti Pal won the Silver Medal in the Women's 100m T35 Final at the Asian Para Games 2026 .
Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya publicly congratulated Pal via X on October 21, 2026 .
The T35 category covers athletes with coordination impairments, making sprint medals especially demanding.
India's Khelo India programme , launched in 2017 , includes dedicated infrastructure and funding for para-athletes.
Indian ministers routinely use social media to highlight para-sports achievements, reflecting a policy shift toward mainstreaming para-athletics.
Pal's silver adds to India's growing medal footprint at successive Asian Para Games editions.
A silver medal in the Women's 100m T35 Final at the Asian Para Games 2026 — and Union Labour and Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya was among the first to salute the moment, posting his congratulations to para-sprinter Preeti Pal on Wednesday, October 21, 2026.
Preeti Pal's sprint to silver on the para-athletics track
Competing in the T35 category — a classification for athletes with coordination impairments affecting running mechanics — Preeti Pal crossed the finish line of the Women's 100m final to claim a silver medal for India. The T35 sprint demands not just raw speed but exceptional technical control, making every podium finish at the continental level a significant athletic statement.
Mandaviya wrote: 'Heartiest congratulations to Preeti Pal on clinching the Silver Medal in the Women's 100m T35 Final at the Asian Para Games 2026. #Cheer4Bharat #AsianParaGames2026' — a post that quickly drew attention from India's sporting community online.
Khelo India's para-sports push and the policy behind the podium
Pal's medal does not arrive in isolation. Since the Khelo India programme was launched in 2017, dedicated funding streams and training infrastructure for athletes with disabilities have been woven into India's mainstream sports development architecture — a deliberate policy choice to move para-athletics from the margins to the mainstream. The programme's para-sports component has expanded steadily, feeding talent pipelines into continental and global competitions.
Indian ministers' social-media congratulations after para-event podium finishes have themselves become a visible signal of that shift — an institutional acknowledgement, not just a personal pat on the back, that para athletes are a central part of India's sporting identity.
India's growing footprint at the Asian Para Games
The Asian Para Games is the continent's premier multi-sport competition for athletes with disabilities, drawing participation from across Asia. India has progressively raised its medal haul and athlete numbers at successive editions, and performances like Pal's silver add to a growing body of evidence that Indian para-athletics is punching with serious continental weight. Every medal in a sprint final — where margins are measured in hundredths of a second — underscores the depth of preparation now backing Indian para-athletes.
With the next Paralympic cycle already in focus for coaches and federations, a silver at the Asian Para Games is exactly the kind of result that shapes selection confidence and funding decisions. Preeti Pal just made that case in under thirteen seconds.
Point of View
The government reinforces the message that para-athletic achievement carries equal national prestige to able-bodied sport. Preeti Pal's silver in a highly technical sprint category also demonstrates the tangible output of Khelo India's para-sports investment, arriving at a moment when India is building its case as an Asian para-athletics power. The medal, and the ministerial attention it receives, will likely feed into arguments for expanded funding ahead of the next Paralympic cycle.
NationPress
21 Oct 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the T35 category in para-athletics?
The T35 classification is for athletes with coordination impairments such as hypertonia, ataxia, or athetosis that affect running mechanics, making sprint events in this category a major technical and athletic challenge.
What are the Asian Para Games 2026?
The Asian Para Games is a multi-sport competition for athletes with disabilities held across Asia, similar in structure to the Asian Games but dedicated to para-sports disciplines.
What is the Khelo India programme and how does it support para-athletes?
Launched in 2017, the Khelo India programme is India's flagship sports development initiative; it includes dedicated funding streams, training infrastructure, and talent identification specifically for athletes with disabilities.
Why did Mansukh Mandaviya post about Preeti Pal's medal?
As Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Mandaviya regularly uses social media to congratulate Indian athletes at international para-sport events, a practice that reflects the government's broader effort to mainstream para-athletics in national sporting culture.
