The firsts, near misses & a debacle: India conclude Paris Olympics campaign with 6 medals

Paris: India's Paris Olympics campaign concluded as Reetika Hooda fell short in the wrestling quarterfinals, and golfers Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar finished out of medal contention.

A total of 117 Indian athletes participated across 16 sports at the Paris Games: archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, equestrian, golf, hockey, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, wrestling, table tennis, and tennis.

India clinched six medals at the Paris Olympics, one silver and five bronze. Although hopes were high for a historic performance, the country fell just short of surpassing its previous best at the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics in 2021, when they secured seven medals (1 gold, 2 silver, and 4 bronze.) and ranked 48th.

Athletics led the way for India with a robust 29-member squad, while the country also fielded its largest-ever contingent of 21 shooters in the shooting events.

Beyond the pursuit of medals, Indian athletes made history by setting new records at the Games along with some near misses on medals after finishing fourth in six 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.

Norman Pritchard, with silver in the men's 200m and men's 200m hurdles at Paris 1900, 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 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 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, as 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, PV Sindhu are the other two-time athletes who 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 the youngest ever individual Olympic medallist from India 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. She was later followed by Olympic debutant Sreeja Akula in the round-of-16.

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, 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.

In archery, Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat delivered India’s best-ever Olympic performance in the mixed team event 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 in archery for India.

Shuttler Lakshya breaks new ground

Lakshya Sen made history as the first Indian shuttler to reach the semifinals in men's badminton at the Olympics. 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 yet another heartbreak with Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu's fourth place in the women’s 49kg weightlifting, which extended 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-kilogram short of her 202kgs which won her a silver in Tokyo, to finish 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 that are in place at the Olympics.

Vinesh faced challenges with weight cutting and was racing against time to ensure that she met the stringent 50 kg limit. But 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 their Tokyo tally, but that will not bring a significant change in India's position on the medal tally as they are currently placed 71st.