PARIS: Pooja Ojha failed to finish inside the top three, missing out on a final berth in the women's kayak single 200m KL1 sprint canoeing event, bringing an end to India's record-breaking campaign at the Paralympics on Sunday.
India concluded the Paris Paralympics with a record haul of seven gold, nine silver, and 13 bronze medals, securing 18th place in the overall medal tally.
The final addition to India's unmatched medal count came from the athletics arena late on Saturday, where Navdeep Singh's silver medal in the men's javelin F41 category was upgraded to gold, capping a spectacular finish to the Games.
In the previous edition held in Tokyo, India ranked 24th with five gold, eight silver, and six bronze medals.
On the concluding day of the Paralympics at the Vaires-sur-Marne Stadium, Pooja was the last Indian in contention. She finished her semi-final 1 with a timing of 1:17.03, which was 7.03 seconds behind the third-placed Eleonora de Paolis of Italy.
The top three athletes qualified for the final. Brianna Hennessy of Canada (57.00) and Maosan of China (57.26) claimed the top two spots in semi-final 1. During the heats, Pooja had finished in fifth place. As a result of this performance, India's para-canoeing campaign in the event has come to an end.
Besides her, Prachi Yadav was another canoe sprinter who, on Saturday, finished eighth in the women's VL2 200m. India’s only male canoe sprinter, Yash Kumar, finished fifth in the KL1 200m semi-final on Saturday.
The KL1 category is primarily for canoe sprinters who propel with their arms only, with very limited or no trunk function and no leg function.