Paris: Reetika Hooda lost in the wrestling quarterfinals, and golfers Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar were eliminated from medal contention, marking the end of India’s Olympic journey in Paris.
In 16 different sports, including archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, equestrian, golf, hockey, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, wrestling, table tennis, and tennis, 117 Indian athletes competed in the Paris Games.
At the Olympics in Paris, India won six medals—one silver and five bronze. While expectations were high for a historic performance, the nation just missed out on breaking its own record at the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where they finished 48th with seven medals (1 gold, 2 silver, and 4 bronze).
India led the way with a strong 29-person team in athletics. In shooting sports, the nation sent out its biggest-ever delegation of 21 shooters.
Beyond the chase for medals, Indian athletes made history at the Games by breaking previous records and coming critically close to winning after finishing fourth in six different events.
The major achievements
Pistol shooter Manu Bhaker became the first Indian woman to win a shooting medal at the Olympics. Moreover, she became the first Indian athlete in the post-independence era to win multiple medals in a single edition of the Games.
With silver in the men’s 200m and men’s 200m hurdles at Paris 1900, Norman Pritchard was the first athlete to win two medals at one Olympics for India.
Manu stormed into the final of the women’s 10m air pistol, becoming the first Indian woman since Athens 2004 to qualify for the Olympic finals in shooting. The following day, she won the bronze in the same and created history by becoming the first Indian woman to win an Olympic shooting medal.
Later, Manu, partnering with Sarabjot Singh, became the first Indian shooting pair to win an Olympic medal in shooting. Overall, it was India’s sixth Olympic medal in shooting.
India achieved the best medals tally in a single sport at the Olympics
When Swapnil Kusale clinched the bronze in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions on August 1, he secured India’s third shooting medal at the Paris Olympics, marking a historic achievement. This not only set a new record for India’s best-ever medal tally in a single sport at the Olympics but also earned the nation its first Olympic shooting medal in the 50m rifle 3 positions event.
Prior to this, India had never won more than two medals in a single sport at any Olympic Games, with the previous best being two shooting medals at the London 2012 Olympics—Vinay Kumar (Silver, 25m rapid fire pistol) and Gagan Narang (Bronze, Men’s 10 m Air Rifle Event). In the Tokyo Games, Ravi Dahiya (57kg) and Bajrang Punia (65kg) won two medals in men’s wrestling.
The one and only Neeraj Chopra in athletics
The ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra produced his career’s second-best javelin throw at Paris 2024 with an effort of 89.45m but was beaten for gold by Arshad Nadeem, who achieved a new Olympic record of 92.97m.
Although it wasn’t gold, winning an Olympic silver medal was a significant achievement for the 26-year-old. It marked only India’s second medal in athletics at the Summer Games, both secured by Neeraj.
In the process, he became the third two-time Olympic medallist from India after adding a silver to his Tokyo 2020 gold medal. Sushil Kumar and PV Sindhu are the other two-time athletes who have won two Olympics in successive editions.
India’s first win over Australia in Olympic hockey since Munich 1972
When India beat Tokyo Olympics silver medallists Australia 3-2 in a group game at the Paris 2024 Olympics, it marked their first win over the Aussies in the Games since 1972.
Back-to-back Olympic medals in hockey after 52 years
India, the bronze medalists in hockey at Tokyo, achieved back-to-back Olympic podium finishes for the first time in 52 years, since the Munich 1972 Games, by rallying from a goal down to defeat Spain 2-1 in the bronze medal playoff.
This victory at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium also secured India’s record-extending 13th Olympic hockey medal.
Aman, the youngest medallist
Wrestler Aman Sehrawat became India’s youngest individual Olympic medallist at 21 years, 0 months, and 24 days after he secured the bronze medal in 57kg men’s freestyle wrestling. He bettered shuttler PV Sindhu’s record, who was 21 years, 1 month and 14 days old when she won silver at the Rio Olympics 2016.
In addition, star paddler Manika Batra became the first Indian table tennis player to progress to the pre-quarterfinals of the Olympic Games. Olympic debutant Sreeja Akula later followed her in the round-of-16.
Shuttler Lakshya breaks new ground
Lakshya Sen made history as the first Indian shuttler to reach the Olympic semifinals in men’s badminton. Competing in men’s singles, he topped his group with victories over top players like Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie, defeated compatriot HS Prannoy in the round of 16, and stunned Chou Tien-chen in the quarterfinals.
Although he fell to defending champion Viktor Axelsen in the semis and lost to Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in the bronze medal match, his remarkable journey still stands out as a significant achievement.
India’s Paris 2024 Olympics campaign suffered another heartbreak with Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu’s fourth place in the women’s 49kg weightlifting, extending India’s run of near misses.
Competing in her third Olympics, Mirabai lifted an overall weight of 199kg (88kg snatch + 111kg clean and jerk), three kilograms short of her 202 kg, which won her a silver in Tokyo. She finished just outside the podium places in what was a tight four-way contest.
The weigh-in saga
Vinesh Phogat, who became the first Indian women wrestler to reach the final at the Olympic Games, was disqualified from her gold medal bout in the women’s 50 kg category after failing her second weigh-in.
The disqualification, following which she announced her retirement, ended her gold medal aspirations and highlighted the rigorous weight restrictions at the Olympics.
Vinesh faced challenges with weight cutting and was racing against time to meet the stringent 50 kg limit. However, she ultimately missed the mark by just over 100 grams.
However, she has appealed against her Olympic disqualification with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and demanded a joint silver medal in the 50kg weight category.
If Vinesh wins her case for a joint silver medal, India will match its Tokyo tally, but that will not significantly change its current position on the medal tally, which is 71st.
A tale of near misses
India’s history of near misses at the Olympics, dating back to Milkha Singh, saw its toughest chapter this year with six agonising fourth-place finishes.
Among them were shooters Arjun Babuta and Manu, who narrowly missed out on medals in the men’s 10m air pistol and women’s 25m air pistol events, respectively.
In the mixed skeet event, the duo of Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan came heartbreakingly close, losing the bronze medal match to China by just one point.
Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat delivered India’s best-ever Olympic performance in the mixed team event in archery by finishing fourth. In the bronze medal match against the USA’s Brady Ellison and Casey Kaufhold, they fought hard but ultimately fell short, losing 6-2, narrowly missing what could have been a historic first podium finish for India in archery.
–IANS
