Paris Olympics 2024: India’s Run Ends with 1 Silver and 5 Bronze, Unveiling 16 Days Journey
Paris Olympics 2024: The time has come for countries to finally say goodbye to the greatest sporting event, the Olympics. On one hand, where countries like China and the USA are still competing to get another gold and lead the medals tally, the Indian contingent ended its challenge a day before the actual Closing Ceremony. Indian Grappler Reetika Hooda was our last bet at the Paris Olympics to claim a medal for the nation but, like every other day in this Olympics edition, India suffered another defeat, not due to the lack of ability but because of the series of circumstances.
Reetika Hooda was a strong contender to grab a medal at the Paris Olympics for India but she lost her Quarterfinal bout, as her opponent from Kyrgyzstan who was also the first seed this season, scored the last point of the game and the Indian wrestler lost the match by 1–1.
India started its Olympics 2024 journey on a high note with medal expectations from big names like PV Sindhu, Mirabai Chanu, Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, Lakshya Sen, Sift Kaur Samra, Antim Panghal, Nishant Dev and many more. Some could actually step forward and get us a medal, including our biggest medal hope Neeraj Chopra, young and talented Manu Bhaker, a surprise medal gift by Swapnil Kushale, Sarabjot Singh’s valiant trophy, our Hockey team’s back-to-back victory and of course, the youngest Indian to win a medal at the Olympics, Aman Sehrawat.
Even after winning close to 7 medals like the previous edition of the games, India’s morale was down throughout, Why? Because this time the expectations were high and even after performing gallantly, some of our athletes returned home empty-handed. This time we’ve witnessed the most 4th place finishes than ever. Starting with Arjun Babuta’s 4th place finish to Manu Bhaker losing her third medal by a whisker, the Indian audience knew something was not going right with destiny this time.
Then came the biggest sporting heartbreak for the Indians, it’s the ‘Vinesh Phogat Disqualification.’ We were assured, yes, we knew that we’re going to listen to the Indian National Anthem in the foreign land of Paris but with a margin of 100 grams, destiny had some other plans. Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat had a better head-to-head record against US’s Sarah, her opponent in the final, but all we can say is it did not end well. A billion smiles fade because of a mere 100 grams and nobody can ever feel what the athlete has been through to get to that stage and then lose it all while being on the stage. And, Yes, we couldn't witness ‘Desh ki Beti’ on the podium but one thing is certain, Vinesh is a Champion.
22-year-old Manu Bhaker became the first Indian athlete to win two medals at the same Olympics. She showcased her skills and talent in a manner that every Indian has nothing but the biggest pride for her. Sarabjot Singh and Manu’s mixed team bronze medal event was a thrilling show in itself and they won another Bronze medal for the country, making it a count of two for Manu Bhaker. Swapnil Kushale’s bronze medal in the 50m 3-position rifle was a surprise as well as the biggest gift to the Indian shooting contingent, as he became the first Indian to enter the finals of this event and bring home a medal. After his medal, a series of heartbreaks were waiting for us, from Dhiraj Bommadevera’s unlucky exist from Men’s Individual archery event by a margin of 2.4cm to Dhiraj and Ankita losing the Bronze medal in the mixed team event. It was unfortunate for Indian Archery to once again deliver no medal for the nation even after coming this close.
Talking about Maheshwari Chauhan and Anant Jeet Singh, the two shotgun shooters who made it to the Bronze medal match for the first time in the Olympics, lost the match against China by a margin of 1 point (43–44). Another unfortunate result was when Mirabai Chanu lost her consecutive Olympic medal by 1 Kg, and Indian Badminton Player, Lakshya Sen even after winning the first set against Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, lost the chance for becoming the first Indian male shuttler to win an Olympic Medal by 21–13, 16–21 and 11–21.
Our big hopes, the duo Satwik and Chirag were the first choice to bring a medal home, more than Indians, foreigners were also sure that they’d win not silver, not bronze but the Gold Medal in Men’s doubles Badminton but once again we couldn’t witness the rise of the stars. Apart from that star shuttler PV Sindhu was also expected to end her run on a high note. World Champion, Nikhat Zareen was also expected to win at least a bronze in her debut Olympics but unfortunately, both of them lost to do so. On the other hand, Nishant Dev’s loss turned out to be one of the most controversial events in the Olympics boxing this season. There were some ups and downs in the Table Tennis as well, Manika Batra became the first Table Tennis player from India to reach the pre-quarterfinals and the women’s TT team reached the quarterfinals for the very first time but the they couldn’t better their performances.
Now, that India ended its run with 6 medals, at the 71st spot on the Medals Table, the fire in the athletes and management can be seen distinctly. So many close-to-medal finishes is a sign of glory incoming in the future, this can be the biggest turning point for India towards the advancement in the next edition of the Olympic Games. This season was good but not lucky for India, in the hopes for an amazing LA Olympic Games 2028, on to the NEXT ONE!!!