Some would say the fourth-place finishes were near misses, some would lament at an athlete missing out a medal for being overweight by mere 100 grams, some would complain of a tough draw, but what actually matters for the country that aims to host the 2036 Olympics and become a sporting powerhouse, is the fact that it finished a lowly 71st in the eventual medals tally.

In all, India returned with mere six medals – a silver and five bronze – after sending 117 athletes to the Paris 2024 Olympics. This was one short of India’s best ever tally of seven medals won in Tokyo, including a gold.

Advertisement

Manu Bhaker won the first medal for India at the Paris Games by bagging a bronze and became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic shooting medal. She then created history by becoming the first Indian to win two medals at a single edition of the Olympics after she clinched a mixed team 10m air pistol bronze with Sarabjot Singh.

Swapnil Kusale added a third medal in shooting to make it India’s biggest haul in a sport in a single edition of the Olympics.

The Indian men’s hockey team matched their Tokyo 2020 success with the bronze in Paris while Neeraj Chopra became the most successful individual Olympian after he claimed a silver medal in the javelin throw event. Later, Aman Sehrawat became India’s youngest Olympic medallist when he won bronze in wrestling.

India left Paris with more heartbreaks than cheers, after having missed out on six potential medals, most by a whisker, with the athletes finishing fourth in their respective events. This included Lakshya Sen in badminton men’s singles event, weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and Manu Bhaker in women’s 25m Pistol shooting event, who could have bagged her third medal at the Games.

Legendary shuttler and team’s mentor Prakash Padukone had rightly pointed out that athletes need to take responsibility, a point that evoked mixed emotions with several top athletes criticising him.

“We were contenders for 3 medals. So, at least, one I would have been happy. I am personally disappointed. But, having said that, this time, the government, the SAI and the foundations, the TOPs, everybody have done their bit. So, I have nothing against it… I don’t think anybody could have done anything more than what the government has done, the Sports Ministry, TOPs has done. It’s high time the players also need to take some responsibility,” a visibly dejected Padukone told the media after the badminton contingent returned empty-handed.

“All these years we could say there were not enough facilities or encouragement. But, I think this time, it’s only better. Especially the top 30 players, I am not just talking about badminton. Across all sports, the top 30-40 who had chances of winning medals, were given whatever they wanted. Sometimes, even if they were unreasonable demands, they have been met,” he added.

The sports ministry on its part had agreed to provide the Paris Olympics-bound athletes with all facilities, and spent crores on training, overseas exposure trips, provided the lion’s share of the funds to eight high-priority disciplines, hired foreign coaches, nutritionists, mental conditioning experts, sports scientists, and the list goes on, then why shouldn’t the athletes take responsibility?

Besides badminton, the boxing contingent also drew a blank. In the run-up to the Games, one contingent other than Neeraj that promised to return with medals was the boxers, but it was a flop show in Paris despite boasting of big names in the squad. The archery unit — one of the eight high-priority disciplines, that is yet to win an Olympic medal, came agonisingly close to winning one in the mixed-team event.

Coming to wrestling, Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification ahead of a historic final also added to India’s woes, although the 21-year-old Aman’s bronze medal ensured India’s returns from the sport continued in every edition of the Summer Games since 2008. The debutant managed to shed 4.6kgs in 10 hours prior to his men’s freestyle 57kg bronze-medal bout, unlike three-time Olympian Vinesh Phogat, who used all desperate measures but missed the second weigh-in on the day of her women’s 50kg gold-medal bout by a mere 100 grams. In certain sporting disciplines, it is a given fact that the athlete (read wrestler in this context) has to work hard to keep his/her weight below the respective weight class.

While Vinesh has appealed for a joint silver medal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the verdict of the case is expected to be announced by August 13.

Meanwhile, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) that found its Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala and his team targeted for the Vinesh Phogat saga, has issued a strong statement in its defence with IOA President PT Usha, saying, “The responsibility of weight management of athletes in sport like wrestling, weightlifting, boxing and judo is that of each athlete and his or her coach and NOT that of the IOA-appointed Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala and his team.”

Continuing the misery, another wrestler Antim Panghal, who starved for 48 hours to be eligible for the 53kg bout, was ousted even before she could make the medal rounds. Rubbing salt to the wounds, the wrestler left the Indian contingent embarrassed after trying to facilitate her sister’s entry into the Athletes Village through her accreditation card.

As the Games drew to a close late Sunday, back home, there is need for serious introspection into where we actually fell short of that magical double digit mark. Over to LA 2028, with a hope to reach the mark, can we?

Advertisement