(From L to R) Neeraj Chopra; Vinesh Phogat; Manu Bhaker
Credit: Reuters, PTI Images
Paris: Following the high of Tokyo three years ago where they won a record seven medals, there was plenty of hope for the Paris Olympics with many expecting the athletes to surpass the double-digit barrier for the first time in history.
In the end, India finished with six medals with Neeraj Chopra burnishing his status as ‘the superstar’ of Indian athletics with a silver and Manu Bhaker proving she indeed is the shooting star by bagging two medals. There was an emotional medal for the men’s hockey team and an against-all-odds success for Aman Sehrawat. There were several near misses too with India finishing fourth on six occasions and some controversies as well.
DH wraps up India’s campaign.
NEERAJ CHOPRA
Neeraj Chopra of India celebrates with his national flag after winning silver
Credit: Reuters Photo
India is nowhere close to being a player, forget power, at the Olympics, more so in the track and field — the heart and soul of the quadrennial bash. But if there’s one guarantee of winning a medal, then it’s Neeraj Chopra.
Every major event the humble javelin-thrower from Haryana has competed in, he’s won a medal. World Championships, Olympics, Asian Championships, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Diamond League….name it and he has delivered.
Expectations were sky high this time too despite the 26-year-old being bogged by an adductor injury. He was in serious pain but Chopra braved it all in landing a silver medal with a throw 89.45m in his only legitimate effort. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem stole the show with an Olympic record throw of 92.97m but for India, Chopra was the shining star that shone as promised.
MANU BHAKER
Manu Bhaker of India celebrates her win.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Attaining redemption in Paris following the Tokyo debacle was the only thing on Manu Bhaker’s mind and the youngster achieved that in exemplary fashion, winning not just one but two medals to become the first Indian to clinch multiple medals in a single Games.
She first won a bronze medal in the women’s individual 10m air pistol before carrying Sarabjot Singh along in the mixed team event of the same discipline.
Bhaker then put herself in a position to become perhaps India’s greatest individual Olympian at a tender age of just 22 years when she stormed into the final of the 25m pistol. She was in contention for a majority of the final as a third medal — no Indian has ever won three individual medals — was in the horizon but a late slip-up cost her dearly. She walked away dejected but not before attaining the status of shooting star.
HOCKEY
Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran of India, Harmanpreet Singh of India, Vivek Sagar Prasad of India and Sumit Sumit of India celebrate with teammates winning the match.
Credit: Reuters Photo
While every medal at Olympics is priceless, the one that seemingly brings the biggest joy to most Indians is hockey. The sport is an emotion, considering the rich history. That joy was achieved when the team won a second successive bronze after defeating Spain in the third-place play-off.
That came after a difficult quarterfinal where they were reduced to 10 men in the quarterfinal against Great Britain early in the second quarter. The team though showed exemplary resilience and character, producing a performance for the ages to knock out the Brits in a shoot-out. Their hope of winning a gold that’s been elusive since the 1980 Moscow Games crashed after a crushing loss to Germany in a breathless semifinal but they lifted themselves remarkably to become the only team apart from Honamas to stand in the podium in Tokyo and Paris.
SWAPNIL KUSALE
Bronze medallist Swapnil Kusale of India poses with his medal.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Amongst the 6 medals India won, Swapnil Kusale’s was the biggest surprise. Even when the 28-year-old made the final of the 50m rifle 3 positions ahead of the in-form Aishwarya Pratap Tomar, the odds were not particularly in favour of the Maharashtrian standing on the podium considering the world-class field he was against.
But Kusale, who made his international debut in 2012 but had to wait until Paris to realise his Olympic dream, wasn’t going to let that wait end in despair. He wasn’t in the reckoning at the start as the butterflies in the stomach created a flutter but he gathered his composure as the positions kept changing from kneeling to prone and then standing.
In the end, Kusale, who like the legendary MS Dhoni worked as a ticket collector, had a medal adorning around his neck.
AMAN SEHRAWAT
Bronze medalist India’s Aman Sehrawat poses for photos during the medal ceremony for the men's 57kg free-style wrestling event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France.
Credit: PTI Photo
He was tipped to be one of the favourites and the gutsy grappler showed why he’s hailed as the next best thing from the stables of the famous Chhatrasal Stadium.
The 21-year-old, orphaned by the age of 12 and who has made Chhatrasal his home for more than a decade, targeted the gold but after being completely decimated by eventual gold medallist Rei Highchi of Japan he showed his passion and hunger in the bronze medal bout against Darian Toi Cruz.
He absolutely dominated the Puerto Rican in the 57kg freestyle bout before proclaiming that he will kickstart his work to win a gold in Los Angeles four years later.
NEAR MISSES
Lakshya Sen; Mirabai Chanu
Credit: Reuters Images
The double digit medals tally India were hoping for could have been a reality had it not been for six fourth-place finishes. While every fourth-place is painful, the three from the shooting range in Chateauroux were extremely heartbreaking as medals missed them by a whisker. Apart from Bhaker’s miss, Arjun Babuta had a medal in his grasp after being in the top-three until his final shot. He even rose to silver position and almost threatened gold. But a 9.5 in his final shot cooked his goose as Croatian Miran Maricic stole the march to bag the bronze. Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan lost in the skeet mixed team bronze medal bout against China by a single bird.
Lakshya Sen fluffed the lines when it mattered most that even drew criticism from his long-time mentor Prakash Padukone. Against eventual goal medallist Viktor Axelsen he let go of three game points in the opening game and then surrendered a 7-0 lead in the second to lose the semifinal and then bungled similarly against Zii Jia Lee in the bronze medal match. He won the opening game and was leading in the second but allowed the nerves to get the better of him.
Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat had a great chance to land archery’s first medal but the latter, beset by nerves of the biggest stage, fired poorly in the bronze medal bout against the United States as India lost 2-6.
Then finally Mirabai Chanu. Despite not having competed for a year, the Tokyo Olympics silver-medallist stayed in the hunt for a bronze in women’s 49kg weightlifting at the end of snatch but couldn’t sustain it clean and jerk to settle for fourth.
CONTROVERSIES
Vinesh Phogat of India gestures after winning the match against Yusneylis Guzman Lopez of Cuba.
Credit: Reuters Photo
No Indian journey is without controversies and Paris too had its fair bit. Not necessarily a controversy but Vinesh Phogat became the biggest talking point after failing her weigh-in ahead of her 50kg final bout against Sarah Hildebrandt. She was found 100g overweight and although her plea for a joint silver is with the Court of Arbitration of Sport, the shocking developments of that day were felt even in the Indian parliament.
Antim Panghal caused the biggest embarrassment to the country when her sister was caught impersonating her. Antim sent her sister to collect her belongings at the Athletes Village and the French authorities apprehended her before taking her to the police station for a statement. She was given 24 hours to leave the country and India flew her back in the first available flight to New Delhi with authorities expected to take stern action.