Paris Olympics 2024: India hope to send at least 100 athletes at Summer Games (2024)

SUNDAY, JUNE 09, 2024

Paris Olympics 2024: India hope to send at least 100 athletes at Summer Games

India had sent 124 athletes to Tokyo Olympics 2020 and returned with a record haul of seven medals

Soumitra Bose

Still 13 short,India is closing in on the three-figure mark as athletes keep grabbing quotas for the Paris Olympics 2024 in July-August. At Tokyo 2020, India fielded a record number of 124 athletes and secured their best-ever haul of seven medals, including a gold medal by Neeraj Chopra in men’s javelin. With better support from the Union sports ministry through its Target Olympic Podium Scheme, the hopes of winning medals in double digits at Paris 2024 are very high.Unlike exit polls in general elections, performance-based results in sports are fairly predictable. All athletes, free from substance abuse, hope to peak during the Summer Games. The preparation and competitions just weeks ahead of a real Olympic event give an indication of how an athlete will perform. Of course, there can be exceptional performances on D-Day that are never accounted for but these are rare and far between.Last week, two Indian male boxers – Amit Panghal and Nishant Dev – grabbed Paris Olympics quotas in the final world Olympic boxing qualifiers in Bangkok. There was a strong possibility that Panghal and Nishant would make the Paris cut on the basis of their training and build-up to the Thailand event. Nishant would have won a quota in the 71 kg division in the March qualifiers in Italy but fell agonisingly short by a win. Both Panghal and Nishant qualified in style with the former, a Tokyo 2020 Olympian, outclassing his Chinese rival Liu Chuang 5-0.While Panghal and Nishant’s qualification were expected, Jaismine Lamboria, a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, securing a quota in the women’s 57 kg class was commendable. She rescued the quota that India had lost after original holder Parveen Hooda had to surrender for failing a doping whereabouts clause. Jaismine, who dropped down from 60 kgs to fight in Bangkok, comfortably beat Mali’s Marine Camara to regain the quota.India will thus have six boxers in Paris. Panghal, Nishant and Jaismine will join the women’s troika of Nikhat Zareen (50 kg), Lovlina Borgohain (75 kg) and Preeti Pawar (54 kg) to vie for medals at Paris 2024. Lovlina struck bronze in Tokyo.At last count, India have secured 87 quotas, with shooting winning the maximum quota of 21. Another 23 athletes are expected to win Paris Olympics quotas and athletics could grab another nine to the 19 already secured. In that case, India’s largest representation, individual sport-wise, will be in athletics where realistically speaking, Chopra should win a medal again.All eyes will be on Indian archers, who will be making a last-ditch attempt to win team quotas at the third stage of the archery World Cup in Antalaya, Turkiye from June 18 to 23. Archery, for all the achievements Indians have made in World Cups and major global events, has never given India an Olympic medal. In almost every Summer Games, top-class recurve archers like Deepika Kumari -- she has been to three Olympics -- have flopped.Since Tokyo, a lot of work has happened with the archers at Sports Authority of India’s National Centre of Excellence in Sonepat, Haryana. Apart from skill development, a lot of emphasis has been given on scientific coaching and mental toughness. If Indian men’s historic gold medal at the 2024 Archery World Cup Stage 1 in Shanghai in April is any indication, the recurve troika of veteran Tarundeep Rai, Pravin Jadhav and Dhiraj Bommadevara will back themselves to qualify for Paris in the Turkiye leg of the World Cup. So far, Bommadevara is the only one who has qualified for the Olympics in men’s recurve. There is no compound archery at the Olympics.Deepika, who has staged a good comeback after giving birth to a son in December 2022, will like to go out on a high. A former world number one, Deepika can clinch a team berth alongside probable teammates Bhajan Kaur and Ankita Bhakat. The 29-year-old Deepika continues to be an inspiration for young archers and Paris may provide the Jharkhand archer an opportunity for winning the medal of her dream.In 2023-24 cycle, the government has spent close to 26 crores on 18 different sports through the Target Olympic Podium Scheme. A major chunk of this money goes to select athletes and their coaches directly. Apart from providing financial support for travel, boarding and lodging, SAI provides customised equipment for athletes to achieve better levels at excellence. It also provides a hefty out-of-pocket allowance.Qualifying for the Olympics is one thing and winning a medal is another. In Tokyo 2020, India looked at double digits in terms of medals won. Shooting, the biggest hope, drew a blank. India ended with seven, five better than Rio 2016 and one more than London 2012. Paris 2024 will be redemption time.

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Paris Olympics 2024: India hope to send at least 100 athletes at Summer Games (2024)

SUNDAY, JUNE 09, 2024

Paris Olympics 2024: India hope to send at least 100 athletes at Summer Games

India had sent 124 athletes to Tokyo Olympics 2020 and returned with a record haul of seven medals

VideosVIEW ALL

IDhar UDHAR

References