India’s para-cycling campaign at the Asian Para Games 2026 will rest on the shoulders of Arshad Shaik, the country’s sole representative in the discipline at the continental event in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
At the 2026 , The 33-year-old will compete in multiple track and road events which are scheduled to take place from 19 to 22 October. His participation comes amid a that reduced India’s originally recommended para-cycling contingent to just one athlete.
Shaik will compete in the men’s C1-3 1,000m time trial, C1-2 3,000m individual pursuit, C1-3 road race and C1-5 time trial. These events will give him opportunities to challenge for medals across different formats of para-cycling.
Born on 2 June, 1993, Shaik hails from Nandyal town in Andhra Pradesh. His journey in sport took a difficult turn following an auto-rickshaw accident in 2004, which resulted in the amputation of one of his legs.
Before the accident, Shaik had pursued taekwondo and won a silver medal at a district-level championship. He subsequently turned towards para-sports, eventually establishing himself as an international para-cyclist.
He developed as an athlete through the Hyderabad-based Aditya Mehta Foundation, which works to support para-athletes and help them access sporting opportunities.
Shaik’s progress in cycling earned him a place in India’s contingent for the Paris 2024 Paralympics. Competing at the marked a significant milestone in his career, taking him onto the sport’s biggest international stage. He became India’s first-ever male para-cyclist to compete at the .
At Paris, he finished 11th in the men’s C2 road time trial and 30th in the men’s 1,000m track time trial in the C1-3 category.
At the 2024 Asian Track Para-Cycling Championships in New Delhi, Arshad clinched four gold medals across multiple MC2 events. At the 2026 UCI Parasport Denmark Grand Prix in Odense, Denmark, he won six medals. This included two gold, three silver and one bronze medal.
He also secured fourth place in the individual time trial at the 2026 Asian Para Road Championships, a result that proved important in the selection process for the Aichi-Nagoya Games. He subsequently finished fifth in the 1km time trial at the Asian Para Track Championships.
In addition to all this, Ashad has won the National Para-Cycling Championship gold medal five times.
His participation in Aichi-Nagoya therefore represents another opportunity to compete against leading para-cyclists from across Asia and improve on his previous international performances.
