Paris Olympics: A Story of Near Misses

India has missed the chance to announce its arrival on the world sporting map as it managed to win only six medals in the recently concluded Paris Olympics. In this edition, India won one medal less than it had achieved in the Tokyo Olympics, contrary to predictions of a record medal tally in Paris. However, it would be a mistake to judge India’s performance solely on the number of medals, as our sportspersons have performed creditably in most events in which they competed. It should not be forgotten that Indian sportspersons narrowly missed medals in seven events by coming fourth. Mirabai Chanu, the Northeastern weightlifter and winner of silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics, finished fourth this time by lifting only a kilogram less than the bronze medallist. Similarly, Indian shooter Arjun Babuta missed the bronze by 0.1 points. Even Manu Bhaker, who spearheaded India’s medal tally by winning two bronze medals, finished in fourth place in the 25 m pistol event, thus missing a chance to put her name among notable athletes of the world by virtue of winning three medals in a single Olympics. In hockey, despite playing like champions throughout the competition, India has to remain satisfied with a bronze after losing to Germany in the semi-final. In Tokyo Neeraj Chopra had won the Gold in men’s javelin competition. This time, the golden boy of Indian sports failed to retain the top spot. As a result of these near misses, India has finished in 71st place in the medal tally at this Olympics, which is much lower than the 48th place that it occupied in Tokyo.

India suffered the biggest setback when wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the Gold-medal contest for weighing 100 gram more than the prescribed weight. This was a serious blow for India, as Vinesh was possibly in the best form of her life and reached the finals, defeating the reigning world and Olympic champion, among others. This is something unusual, as losing four to five kg of weight is normal for any athlete competing in boxing, wrestling and weightlifting. As a matter of fact, the lone Indian wrestler to win a medal in the Paris Olympics, Aman Sehrawat, managed to lose 4.6 kg in 10 hours before the bronze medal bout. It’s a mystery why an expert team comprising of a doctor, trainer and dietician, among others, failed to do the same in the case of Vinesh, which cost the country a sure medal. It is hoped that Vinesh will get a favourable verdict from the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and receive a silver medal, a feat which no other Indian woman wrestler has achieved thus far. India’s failure to win a single medal in badminton and archery is quite unfortunate, as the athletes went very close to the medal qualifying stage. Shuttler Lakshya Sen and the mixed archery team both finished fourth after reaching the semi-finals of their respective events. In all, it was a mixed bag for India in Paris and the country must strive much harder to achieve a greater outcome in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.