‘Our Para athletes have exceeded all expectations,' says KR Satyanarayana

India para athletics head coach KR Satyanarayana (centre) with gold medal-winning para athlete Sharmila Dhankar (left) and bronze medallist Shilpa Shyla in Glasgow recently

KR Satyanarayana, head coach of India's para athletics contingent at the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, is overjoyed by the performance of his athletes so far, and is further expecting them to continue exceeding his medal expectations set at the start.

India have won two medals in para athletics so far, both coming in women's shot put - gold for Sharmila Dhankar and bronze for Shilpa Shyla.

Satyanarayana, who is also the chairperson of the Paralympic Committee of India, said that he's expecting two more definite medals. "I'm very happy with this performance. I'm expecting two more sure shot medals, from Shubham Juyal and Suman Rana in the shot put F57 category [their event is on Saturday, on August 1]," Satyanarayana told mid-day over the phone from Glasgow.

As for the medal count, Satyanarayana, who was an able-bodied 1500m national champion, said the result is better than what they had expected at the beginning. "We were expecting five to six medals before the tournament started, but now we are expecting six to seven. These athletes have exceeded all expectations. Para sports began at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. After that, this is the first time we are having such a wonderful performance. This is the result of two years of preparation and strategies for the athletes, put in by the federation," he said.

This performance will now inspire an even better show at the 2026 Asian Para Games to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from October 18-24, said the para athletics head coach. "This performance is a motivator for other athletes, who will be going for the Asian Para Games. There are very limited events at this CWG and despite that, we have done well. This will boost our confidence and medals tally at the Asian Para Games," he signed off.