Wishful thinking allows all Indians to hope that the nation has a chance at bringing home 69 medal events from the Paris Olympics! Well, that is the total number of medal events across 16 sports for which a total of 112 athletes from the country compete for the next 16 days. India’s Paris 2024 Olympics schedule kicks off on July 25. Out of which a 29-member strong athletics team forms a huge chunk of the Indian contingent.
However, while every one of them will give the games their best shot, many of them will prove to be a work-in-progress and future asset for the nation, while a few of them are pegged to bring medals back home.
All eyes on Neeraj Chopra
In the Indian contingent, Neeraj Chopra is among the forerunners braving high expectations of the nation. What gives even stronger hopes is that his Olympic gold medal-winning throw of 87.58m at Tokyo in 2020 is not his career best, but a good 2.36m short of his personal best throw ever.
Chopra became the first Indian track athlete to win Olympic gold and only the second Indian after shooter Abhinav Bindra to bring home an individual gold.
Chopra’s throws have seldom disappointed the nation. This time will be no different. He is scheduled to compete in the qualifiers on August 6 and the finals on August 8.
One medal from the badminton duo?
What makes the men’s badminton double pair of Satwiksairaj Reddy and Chirag Reddy almost a sure shot at the Olympics is not just their recent history of electrifying performances on the court, but the fact that the young duo is in form at the moment.
Andhra-born Satwik and Mumbai-born Chirag are the first from India to be ranked no 1 in the world in their category.
Not just that, their historic win at Thomas Cup, Asian Games gold, a CWG gold pegs them as not just a success story at world sporting events but one that has sustained their victories.
Meanwhile, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu will also be seen in action in Paris.
Manu Bhaker & the shooting squad
The shooting squad of 21 will be India’s second-largest contingent to any sport. This is also where India’s first medal opportunity will be at the ranges of the National Shooting Center in Châteauroux. The mixed team 10m air rifle medal matches are scheduled on July 27.
Two Indian teams comprising Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan and Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal are slated for the mixed matches. Manu Bhaker will be seen in action in two individual pistol events.
Manu Bhaker emerged as the most successful athlete in the Olympic Selection Trials (OST) Rifle/Pistol in May. This is not her first outing at the Olympics as she had a forgettable performance at Tokyo in 2020. However, she claims to have become wiser and learned from the mistakes made in the previous edition of the Olympic Games.
A repeat in Weight Lifting?
Saikhom Mirabai Chanu is the sole weightlifter to represent India at Paris 2024. The silver medallist from the Tokyo Olympics in the women’s 49 kg weightlifting competition will also be carrying the weight of the nation’s hopes when she competes on August 7. However, the 29-year-old is no stranger to pressure and this year she eyes back-to-back Olympic medals.
A medal in Boxing again?
The boxing events start on July 27 and representing India will be Tokyo bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain. The Assam-born, vastly experienced pugilist will be competing in the 75-kg category and though she has top contenders to compete with at the Games, Borgohain is also said to be in good form. She has a gold medal from the Asian Championships in 2022 and a silver in the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023 in her kitty.
Accompanying her will be Nikhat Zareen, who makes her Olympic debut in Paris but is a two-time world champion. She also won a gold at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in the women’s 50 kg category.
India’s performance at Olympics
No doubt, there have been many disappointing Olympic editions for India, times when the country had to return empty-handed, with not even a single medal in hand. An article in the British press once even headlined India as the “Olympic losers” and looked in detail into the reasons for India’s poor performance at the Olympics. But the sporting landscape in the country has been slowly changing and how.
Abhinav Bindra changed things at the 2008 Beijing Olympics by becoming India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist by winning the men’s 10 m air rifle. He made the aspiring Indian sportspersons overcome the mental barrier and believe it was possible.
The 16 sports that Indian athletes will be competing in at Paris include archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, equestrian, golf, hockey, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis and tennis. In Tokyo 2020, India returned with its record haul of seven medals, including one gold, making it the best haul ever at a single edition of the Olympics. It is hopeful of bettering the count even further this year.
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