Preethi Pal, with photo credit to SAI, made history in New Delhi by becoming the first Indian woman track and field athlete to win two medals at the Paralympics. She secured a bronze in the 200m T35 category in Paris, clocking a personal best time of 30.01 seconds. This achievement places her as the second Indian woman to claim two medals in a single Paralympics, following shooter Avani Lekhara's success in Tokyo where she won gold and bronze medals. Preethi's bronze in the 200m T35 adds to India's second para-athletics medal at the Paris Paralympics. She faced tough competition, including world record holder and Tokyo Paralympics champion Zhou Xia of China, who clinched the gold with a time of 28.15 seconds, and Guo Qianqian, also from China, who took silver with a time of 29.09 seconds.

Earlier on Friday, Preethi secured India's first athletics medal in a Paralympics track event, winning bronze in the women’s T35 100m race with a personal best time of 14.21 seconds. Notably, all of India's previous Paralympics athletics medals before this year were in field events. Deepa Malik, former president of the Paralympic Committee of India, is the only other Indian woman track and field medallist in the Paralympics, having won silver in the shot put F53 category at the 2016 Rio Games.

Born with coordination impairments and having her lower body plastered for six days post-birth, Preethi faced challenges with weak legs and irregular leg posture. Traditional treatments and wearing calipers from age five to thirteen were part of her early struggles. Her perspective changed at age 17 when she was inspired by the Paralympic Games on social media and had a life-changing encounter with Paralympic athlete Fatima Khatoon, who introduced her to para-athletics. With Khatoon's support, Preethi began participating in state and national championships from 2018, eventually qualifying for the Asian Para Games in China last year where she finished fourth in the 100m and 200m sprints.

To refine her running techniques, Preethi relocated to Delhi to train under coach Gajender Singh.Her training led to the accomplishment of winning bronze medals in the 100m and 200m events at the World Para Athletics Championships. She received financial support through the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). In a separate event, Ravi Rongali of India secured fifth place in the men's F40 shot put final with a personal best of 10.63m. The gold medal was clinched by Miguel Montero of Portugal, setting a world record with a distance of 11.21m. Mongolia's Battulga Tsegmid claimed silver with 11.09m, while Garrah Tnaiash of Iraq took home the bronze with 11.03m. Russian Paralympic gold medalist Denis Gnezdilov, competing as a Neutral Paralympic Athlete, finished fourth with a throw of 10.80m in the shot put event.

Furthermore, Rakshita Raju participated in the women's 1500m T11 race but was eliminated in the initial round heats, finishing in last place out of four runners in Heat 3 with a time of 5:29.92s. Only the top two runners from each of the three heats progressed to the final round. Among her competitors was China's Shanshan He, who topped Rakshita's heat with a time of 4:44.66s, followed closely by Louzanne Coetzee of South Africa with a season-best time of 4:45.25s.