Indian athletes create history, win a record 37 medals at World Dwarf Games

The Indian contingent at the World Dwarf Games stood tall with a record haul of 37 medals The 21-member team won 37 medals including 15 golds in the 7th edition of the World Dwarf Games held in Canada The Indian team was called on stage and felicitated by India’s Consul General to Toronto, Dinesh Bhatia during the Independence Day celebrations on August 15

Indian athletes have been winning big in world sports in recent years. In July, the Indian Women Women’s Wheelchair Basketball team won bronze at the world meets in Bali Indonesia. The Indian contingent at the World Dwarf Games stood tall with a record haul of 37 medals.

The 21-member team won 37 medals including 15 golds in the 7th edition of the World Dwarf Games which was held over a week at the University of Guelph in Ontario province and featured nearly 400 athletes from 24 countries.

The Indian team was called on stage and felicitated by India’s Consul General to Toronto, Dinesh Bhatia during the Independence Day celebrations on August 15.

The Indian team members were thrilled at having competed there. The Hindustan Times quoted Joby Matthew saying, “I had a wonderful experience. I participated in badminton doubles, badminton singles, shot put, javelin, discus throw, and power-lifting.”

The World Dwarf Games are considered as the little people’s Olympics, reported Hindustan Times quoting athlete Arunachalam Nalini.

The team’s coach and manager Shivananda Gunjal said, “This year was fantastic. They have done an excellent job.We want to give a gift to the country on Independence Day. Coming here, we have been given so much respect, we are very proud of that. We are happy to give 15 gold medals to the country on August 15.”

However, as with other athletes, this contigent too did not receive much support from the authorities. “We have no support from the central government or state governments or any sponsors,” said CV Rajanna who won three golds.

A majority of the athletes had to take loans to be able to afford to travel to Canada. 

The Sringeri Vidya Bharati Foundation (Canada), a social non-profit, arranged lodging for them at its community centre and its representative, Brinda Muralidhar, coordinated the visit to the consulate.