A contingent of 117 Indian athletes competed for medals at the Paris Olympics 2024, which concluded on August 12. India secured a total of six medals at the marquee event, including one silver and five bronze, according to Olympics.com.
Neeraj Chopra further enhanced his Olympic legacy by claiming silver in the javelin throw, making him the most successful individual Olympian from India. Neeraj Chopra failed to defend his men’s javelin throw crown at Paris 2024, but a best throw of 89.45m saw him take silver behind Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who won the gold with an Olympic record-setting mark of 92.97m. Neeraj Chopra became India’s second individual Olympic champion – after Abhinav Bindra – with his men’s javelin throw gold at Tokyo 2020. It was India’s first track-and-field medal at any Olympic Games. The medal was India’s seventh at Tokyo 2020 – making it their best-ever haul at a single edition of the Olympics. Neeraj Chopra threw 87.58m to clinch the gold medal at Tokyo.
Manu Bhaker earned India’s first medal at these Games and bagged a bronze medal in shooting. She made history by becoming the first Indian to win two medals in a single Olympic edition, adding a mixed-team bronze with Sarabjot Singh to her tally. Manu Bhaker won India’s first medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics with a bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol shooting event. She thus became India’s first medal winner in Olympic shooting. A day earlier, she had become the first Indian woman to qualify for an Olympic shooting final in 20 years. In the final, she finished behind the Republic of Korea’s Oh Ye Jin and Kim Yeji pair.
Swapnil Kusale contributed a third medal in shooting, marking India’s largest haul in this sport at a single Olympics. Swapnil Kusale won India’s third medal at Paris 2024 – the most in shooting for the country in a single edition at the Olympics – when he picked up a bronze in the men’s 10m 50m rifle 3 positions event. The three medals eclipsed the two that were won in shooting in London in 2012. It was, however, the first in the 50m rifle 3P event at the Olympics. Kusale scored 451.4, securing the third position and becoming the first Indian shooter to achieve this feat in the 50m Rifle 3P category.
Manu Bhaker created another piece of history at the Paris 2024 Summer Games after she became the first athlete from independent India to win two medals in a single edition of the Olympics. Days after she won a bronze in the women’s individual event, she combined with Sarabjot Singh to clinch a bronze in the mixed team 10m air pistol event. The duo defeated the South Koreans for the team medal, a first for Indian shooting at the Games.
The Indian men’s hockey team replicated their Tokyo 2020 success by securing bronze in Paris. Men’s hockey has been the most successful sport for India, with 13 medals, including eight golds, followed by wrestling with eight medals. India’s best-ever Olympic performance came in Tokyo in 2020, where the nation won seven medals, including one gold medal. The Indian men’s hockey team won its second successive medal in the Olympics after beating Spain 2-1 in the bronze medal match. It was Indian hockey’s fourth Olympic bronze medal – after the 1968, 1972 and 2020 Games – and their 13th Olympic medal overall. Captain Harmanpreet Singh was the star of India in Paris, scoring ten goals. The team’s highlight was the brilliant performance by the goalkeeper P.R Sreejesh, who announced his retirement from International Hockey.
Aman Sehrawat became India’s youngest Olympic medallist with a bronze in wrestling. Sehrawat won India’s second successive Olympic medal in the men’s 57kg freestyle wrestling event at Paris 2024. This time, however, it was a bronze at the hands of Aman Sehrawat. The Indian wrestler beat Darian Cruz of Puerto Rico 13-5 in the bronze match. Earlier, Aman had an impressive run until the semi-finals, which included a win over former world champion Zelimkhan Abakarov of Albania.
The Paris Olympics 2024, for India, will be a watershed event, not for the medals but for the issue involving wrestler Vinesh Phogat. As a gold medal prospect, she reached the finals as per the rules but was disqualified in the finals. It has been challenged at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). When going to print, she and the country were awaiting the verdict.