The excitement was palpable by the end of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. This was an edition of the Games that was held under great skepticism. The shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic still loomed over the world, but in that fortnight in the Japanese capital, the celebration of sport shone bright.
Also celebrating this time was India. The debacle of Rio 2016 had doused the spark from the impressive six-medal show at London 2012. But in Tokyo, the Olympic flame for India burned like never before. The band of 122 competitors across 18 sports returned with seven medals – the highest tally India had ever achieved at a single Olympic Games.
The men’s hockey team stood on the podium for the first time in 41 years, winning a bronze. Two wrestlers, Bajrang Punia (bronze) and Ravi Dahiya (silver) continued a streak that started in 2008 of Indian grapplers winning an Olympic medal. A weightlifter, Mirabai Chanu won silver to ensure India had a medal on the opening day the Games for the first time.
PV Sindhu once again stood proudly on the podium, this time with bronze, making her the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. In boxing, a new name, Lovlina Borgohain, emerged with a bronze medal to become the first pugilist since the great Mary Kom in 2012 to win an Olympic medal.
And Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win an Olympic gold medal in athletics.
Yes, there was a great deal of excitement by the time the delayed Tokyo Games ended. Already, there was anticipation for the 2024 Olympics.
The wait this time lasted only three years, and expectations have only increased. And with good reason.
In the intervening years, Indian contingents have competed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, and the delayed Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023, exceeding all targets and returning with a rich haul of medals.
The same will be expected off the 117-member team in Paris.
Medal hopefuls
Of the seven medals that were won in Tokyo, five of the winners will be turning up in Paris. All of them will carry the burden of emulating their performances, perhaps even going better when the Games get underway on July 26.
The baggage, arguably, is greater for Chopra however.
The golden boy of Indian athletics was a medal contender in Tokyo, and that massive 87.58m heave of his javelin shot him into the limelight and onto the top rung of the podium. But the writing was always on the wall.
Ever since he burst onto the scene by winning the Under-20 World Championships in 2016, Chopra went on to win gold at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast and Asian Games in Jakarta. Since the All-India Inter-Services meet in September 2018, he has been on a run of 23 consecutive podium finishes across national and international events.
That run included a defense of his Asian Games title at the delayed event in Hangzhou last year. He also became the first Indian to win the Diamond League Final, when he clinched the title in 2022. In August last year, he became the first Indian to win an Athletics World Championship gold medal – he has now won every major event in his sport.
And the 26-year-old from the village of Khandra, in Panipat, Haryana, has achieved it all without ever hitting the 90m mark – his personal best is the 89.94m he threw at the Stockholm Diamond League meet in June 2022.
Time and again, in press conferences and in television interviews, Chopra is asked about crossing that barrier. Time and again he has stressed the importance of being consistent while also maintaining that he will one day cross the distance.
While it is 90m for Chopra, it is a 90kg weight (in snatch) that stands as a so-far elusive hurdle for weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu.
The 29-year-old Manipuri had won a silver medal in the women’s 49kg weight category on the first day of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Since then, however, she has battled injuries, including a hip joint problem that had her sidelined for five months after the Asian Games last year.
She has recovered well and asserted that she is ready to compete at the Olympics, with another spot on the podium being the primary target. Along the way though, she has kept her eye on lifting 90kgs in the snatch section of the competition, with her personal best being the 88kg national record she set at the National Championships in 2020 and matched in her gold medal-winning effort at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Along with Chanu in Birmingham, badminton star Sindhu clinched gold at the quadrennial event for the very first time. It was a new first for the 29-year-old Hyderabadi, but it came with a serious ankle injury that she took time to recover from.
She did get back to the BWF Tour early last year, but Sindhu has not been in the same form that saw her win silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics and bronze in Tokyo.
What cannot be denied is her big-match mentality. A hard-hitter whose improved defensive skills have made her become all the more dangerous on court, Sindhu has put herself in herself in a happy place. She has switched base to Bengaluru, where she now trains under the tutelage of Indonesian coach Agus Dwi Santoso, and under the mentorship of former world No 1 Prakash Padukone.
Her results on the badminton circuit – her last individual title came at the Commonwealth Games in September 2022 – cannot be read into much. The Olympics is a different beast, and Sindhu is one of India’s toughest players.
But she will, remarkably, not be the one from her sport who is a medal hopeful in Paris for the country.
In the men’s doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, India has a team that has risen to the highs of the world No 1 spot, they have a team that became the first from the country to win an Asian Games gold medal, a duo that played a crucial role in the country winning the prestigious Thomas Cup in 2022, and a pair that almost always stays in sync with each other.
The only worry for them would be the state of Rankireddy’s dodgy shoulder.
Meanwhile in boxing, returning to the Olympic fold is Tokyo bronze medallist Borgohain. There are high expectations from her, as there are for two-time World Championships gold medallist Nikhat Zareen, who has become a dominant figure in the women’s 50kg category.
And one cannot forget Harmanpreet Singh and his band of 16, as the men’s hockey team will look to emulate their heroics from the 2020 Olympics. That was the first time since the 1980 Moscow Olympics that an Indian team had won a medal in hockey.
Twelve players from the team that won bronze in Tokyo, including reserves, are in the squad that has travelled to Paris.
The team has become a strong defensive unit under new coach Craig Fulton, but there is a paucity of field goals, which will make the task in Paris more difficult, but not impossible.
Near misses
While the men’s team managed to get onto the podium, the women’s hockey team went on a miraculous run that saw them fall just short of a top three finish themselves. They would have hoped to build on that experience and do better this year, but unfortunately, the women’s team failed to qualify for Paris.
Also missing from the Indian roster is fencer CA Bhavani Devi, who had become the first Indian to qualify in the fencing event at the Olympics in 2020. She failed to make the cut in Paris.
No gymnast will be competing for India this time either, as neither Dipa Karmakar, who finished fourth in her pet vault event at Rio 2016, nor 2020 Olympian Pranati Nayak could earn a Paris berth.
Star long jumper Murali Sreeshankar also suffered an ill-timed knee injury in April that would see him unable to recover in time.
But while there have been misses, Indian table tennis has grown rapidly.
This will be the first time both the men’s and women’s teams have qualified for the Olympics, with veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal also being selected as the flag-bearer for the opening ceremony along with Sindhu.
Trouble at home
Alas, for all the excitement and positives that have come from the build-up, Indian sport is not yet rid of controversy.
The archery team will be without its head coach Baek Woong Ki and possibly the team’s psychologist, who was reportedly stranded in New Delhi without the necessary travel documents. In Baek’s case, he had traveled to Paris, but in a goof up by the Indian Olympic Association and/or the Archery Association of India, the head coach was not registered for an accreditation.
Disappointed at the treatment meted out to him, Baek, who had been working with the Indian team for two years, has decided not to renew his contract that expires on August 30.
There is also a blame game that is ongoing between the IOA and the ad-hoc committee that oversees proceedings for the suspended Wrestling Federation of India.
Star wrestler Antim Panghal’s support staff, a week before the Games, did not have the necessary travel documents. Reports suggested that the IOA failed to provide the French consulate in India the document in the required format to process the visas, prompting delays.
Though there have been administrative goof ups, the Indian contingent has been armed with 140 members of support staff, including a sleep expert to help athletes get sufficient rest.
Over the 2022 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in 2023, the last two major multi-sport competitions, the Indian contingent has done rather well – including crossing the 100-medal mark in Hangzhou.
It was a seismic change in fortunes that kicked-off from the 2020 Olympics. The treats of Tokyo however, are long gone.
Now it is time for the promise of Paris.
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In the build up to the mega event in Paris, Scroll looks at the eight different Olympic disciplines where Indians have returned with a medal.
Athletics: Neeraj Chopra India’s best bet, but don’t forget Avinash Sable in Paris
Badminton: Satwik-Chirag India’s favourites for podium; Chinese hurdle for PV Sindhu
Boxing: Nikhat, Lovlina shoulder hopes but pressure on male boxers mounts
Hockey: Harmanpreet & Co have tough task in Paris, but podium finish not impossible
Shooting: Manu Bhaker and Co hope to bury Tokyo ghosts in Paris
Tennis: Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji lead charge; Sumit Nagal ready to run on clay
Weightlifting: Resilient Mirabai Chanu expected to shine after injury-plagued year
Wrestling: Indian grapplers aim to kickstart new era in Paris
