India at Olympics, Day 12 as it happened: Mirabai Chanu finishes fourth; Vinesh Phogat disqualified

That’s it for Scroll’s coverage of Day 12 of the Olympic Games in Paris.

To be blunt, this was a horrible day for fans of the Indian contingent at the Olympics. It started off with the news that Vinesh Phogat had been disqualified for being overweight – by 100 grams – at the weigh-ins on Wednesday.

As a result, her record of becoming the first Indian woman to reach a gold medal match in Olympic wrestling was stripped away from her.

The Indian delegation has taken the matter to the Court of Arbitration of Sport, hopefully, there could be a positive result tomorrow.

Later in the day, Mirabai Chanu, another medal hope for India, finished fourth in the women’s 49kg weightlifting event, as Avinash Sable finished the men’s 3000m steeplechase final 11th.

There is hope for a better day tomorrow. The men’s hockey team will be competing in the bronze medal match, and of course there is Neeraj Chopra in the evening. A big day!

Join us once again tomorrow!

Wrestling: Sarah Hildebrandt, who would have been Vinesh Phogat’s opponent in the women’s 50kg freestyle final, went on to win gold.

Athletics, men’s 3000m steeplechase final: A respectable 11th place finish for Avinash Sable in the final. He set the pace for the opening few laps before the Ethiopians took over. Sable dropped further but still kept in touch with the leaders. Lamecha Girma stumbled on one of the final hurdles and was knocked out. American Kenneth Brooks took the lead at the start of the final lap but Soufiane El Bakkali caught up and passed the American to become the first man since 1936 Berlin to defend his Olympics steeplechase title.

Brooks takes silver while Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot takes bronze. Sable finishes 11th with a time of 8:14.82min. He would have liked to finish in the top 10 or even top eight.

Weightlifting, women's 49kg: Hou Zhihui! What have you done!? The defending champion defends her gold and in such dramatic fashion. She was still in the third spot and went up seven kilograms to lift 117kg in her second attempt. She failed but came back and stole the gold in the final attempt to make the Olympic record. She finished with a combined score of 206kg. She wasn't amongst the biggest threats but Romania's Mihaela Cambei came out of nowhere to give herself a shot at the medal!

A personal best with a 112kg lift and if nobody is able to top that and the combined weight of 205kg, she would have taken the gold. Great first outing at the Olympics though.

Thailand's Khambao Surodchana who was threatening Mirabai in the spot for bronze finally took the medal at a combined lift of 200kg.

Weightlifting, women's 49kg: Mirabai Chanu listed her final attempt at 114kg but it's unsuccessful. And there goes India's chance at a medal in weightlifting. Another fourth place finish, with a combined weight of 199kg. Heartbreak for Mirabai but it's been that kind of day for the Indian contingent.

Athletics, men’s 3000m steeplechase final: Avinash Sable created history to become the first Indian to reach the 3000m men’s steeplechase final. In a stacked field with sub 8:05.00min times, a top eight finish will be an excellent result for the Indian.

Weightlifting, women's 49kg: No worries this time around though! The crowd really roars as Mirabai nails the 111kg lift in her second attempt in the clean and jerk. The lift takes her to third spot.

Weightlifting, women's 49kg: Mirabai listed her first attempt in the clean and jerk at 111kg but she fails to lift it successfully.

Weightlifting, women's 49kg: Mirabai has listed her first attempt in the clean and jerk at 111kg after initially listing at 107kg. That's a kghigher than Zhihui and Surodchana. So far, Mihaela Cambei has registered the best lift at 106kg but expect all that to change. Three lifters including Mirabai are yet to start.

Wrestling: Things seem to go bad to worse for Indian wrestlers in Paris. Hours after her opening round loss, Antim Panghal is set to be sent back home for indiscipline. As per reports, the grappler reportedly asked her sister to enter the Games village with her [Antim] accreditation.

The sister was caught and apprehended by local police authorities. The Indian Olympic Association is said to be involved in the issue.

Weightlifting, women's 49kg: After the end of snatch, Mirabai is positioned safely at third trailing Romanian Mihaela Cambei (93kg) and China's Hou Zhihui (89kg). Thailand's Khambao Surodchana is in close proximity, though, with 88kg as well.

Weightlifting, women's 49kg: Meanwhile, Hou Zhihui registers a no lift in her first attempt at 89kg but manages to lift it successfully in her second attempt. In her third attempt, she failed to lift 93kg. Her best is the 89kg. Romania's Mihaela Valentina Camei nailed the 89kg in her first attempt and pushed for 91kg in her second attempt and nails it again and again at 93kg in her final attempt! Sensational from the Romanian who is really pushing for gold here.

Weightlifting, women's 49kg: And in the third attempt, Mirabai takes the lead with the 88kg lift! The 90kg eludes her but she has matched personal best. Coach Vijay Sharma is beaming and cheering on the side.

Weightlifting, women's 49kg: Mirabai had pushed to 88kg for her second snatch attempt but it was unsuccessful. It's her personal best in the category so far, having achieved it in the Commonwealth Games 2022. Will she stick to the same weight in the third attempt?

Athletics, men’s triple jump qualification: That’s the end of the competition for Chithravel and Aboobacker. The latter posts his best jump – a 16.49 but it won’t be enough to sneak into the top 12. Chithravel cannot improve on his best mark jumping 16.25m with his final jump. Aboobacker is currently 21st while Chithravel is 26th.

Weightlifting, women's 49kg: For now, Mirabai's second lift is listed at 86kg. She is pushing for the 90kg but isn't getting greedy about it. The listed weight can change but remember, her best snatch attempt is 88 kg which she recorded at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. European champion Mihaela Valentina Cambei of Romania and Surodchana Khambao of Thailand have both lifted over 90 kg in snatch in the past. Meanwhile, reigning champion Hou Zhihui of China holds the world record at 96 kg.

Weightlifting, women's 49kg: A clinical start from the Tokyo silver medalist who lifts 85kg successfully in the first lift in snatch. Her quads seem heavily taped though, one can hope all remains good.

Athletics, men’s triple jump qualification: Both Chithravel and Aboobacker improve on their mark. Chithravel registers a mark of 16.25m while Aboobacker jumps 16.19m. Despite improving on the first attempts, both drop a few places as some jumpers, who had registered a foul jump, register a leagl jump on their second attempt. Chithravel is 21st while Aboobacker is 22nd.

Weightlifting, women's 49kg: Mirabai has listed her first attempt in snatch at 85kg. She will be chasing the elusive 90kg mark, so fingers crossed.

Weightlifting, women's 49kg: In action now will be Mirabai Chanu, India's only representative in the sport. Despite the limited competition time this year due to injury, she remains a strong medal bet. She has competition from Tokyo 2020 gold medalist from the Chinese weightlifter Hou Zhihui and Khambao Surodchana from Thailand. Also keep an eye out for Jourdan Delacruz of the United States who had recently lifted 200kg to win a silver at the 2023 World Championships in Riyadh.

Athletics, men’s triple jump qualification: Chithravel begins with a 15.99m jump with his first attempt, well below what he is capable of. And Aboobacker goes and matches his compatriot with the same mark. After the first round, four jumpers have qualified for the final. Chithravel and Aboobacker are joint 19th, well outside the top 12.

Athletics, men’s triple jump qualification: India’s Praveen Chithravel and Abdulla Aboobacker will be in action in the men’s triple jump qualification. The automatic qualification mark has been set at 17.10m. Both Chithravel and Aboobacker have personal bests over 17.10m. Anywhere close to that mark should also see them qualify to the final as one of the 12 best finishers.

Golf, women's event, round 1: Slow start to the campaign for Diksha Dagar and Aditi Ashok. Dagar is tied in 7th place with a score of 71 in round 1, while Aditi is tied 13 on 72 points. The players tied in third place are on 70 points. Still a long way to go in this contest.

Serbia set to build a museum in honour of Novak Djokovic

Following Novak Djokovic’s dramatic gold medal victory at the Paris Olympics, Serbia is set to build a museum dedicated to the tennis great, according to the country's president.

"We had the first discussions about the construction of the Novak Djokovic museum, which is expected to become another attraction for the city," Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Tuesday.

Djokovic has long enjoyed the status of a living legend in Serbia, where the Belgrade native and winner of 24 Grand Slam titles ran a tennis academy for years and frequently attends sporting events and meets with officials.

"Palma de Mallorca has a museum dedicated to Rafael Nadal. We will strive to showcase what Djokovic has done for our country in accordance with his merits and at the same time attract tourists," Vucic added.

Vucic said he hoped the museum would be finished before Belgrade hosts the World Expo in 2027.

The announcement comes just days after Djokovic won a gold medal at the Paris Games on Sunday after defeating Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2) in what was likely to be his final shot at Olympic glory.

(Text from AFP)

Plenty of action still to come today. Mirabai Chanu, who won a silver medal for India in weightlifting on the opening day of the Tokyo Olympics is in action today. She will be competing in the women’s 49 kg event from 11pm.

Later on, Avinash Sable will run in the men’s 3000m steeplechase final, at 1.13 am.

Starting at 10.45 pm though, Abdulla Aboobacker and Praveen Chithravel will be in action in the men’s triple jump qualification round.

Stay tuned!

The draws for Anshu Malik (women’s 57kg) and Aman Sehrawat (men’s freestyle 57kg) have also been released with both wrestlers starting their campaigns on August 8.

In the latest edition of our newsletter, Game Points, Shahid Judge writes about how the current wave of doping accusations against some Olympic gold medallists in Paris is not exactly keeping with the spirit of the Olympic Games.

Wrestling, Olympics 2024: Vinesh Phogat deserved a medal but her greatness is not validated by it

In a single day, Vinesh Phogat went from defeating the undefeated and being on the brink of making history as the first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic gold, to being disqualified and left without a ranking, writes Samreen Razzaqui.

Wrestling, women’s 53kg: Antim Panghal’s campaign in Paris concludes on a disappointing note, with no opportunity to advance through repechage. Her opponent, Zeynip Etgil of Turkey, was pinned by Germany’s Annika Wendle in the following round.

Table tennis, women's team quarter-final, India 1-3 Germany: Annett Kaufmann beats Sreeja Akula in straight games, and with it, the Indian table tennis campaign in Paris comes to an end.

Wrestling, women's 53kg: Oh no, oh no. Zeynip Etgil takes down Amit Panghal in the first couple of minutes itself to score back to back points. Panghal is not able to get out of the hold and the bout is awarded to the Turk who wins 10-0.

Another shocking result from India and the Indian wrestlers' campaign is looking grim. Antim will have to look at the repechage route.

Wrestling, women's 53kg: In action now is Antim Panghal in the women's 53kg opening round against Turkey's Zeynip Etgil. After the debacle in wrestling in the build up and today, all eyes will be on the 19-year-old Indian to change India's fortunes.

Table tennis, women’s team event quarter-finals, India 1-2 Germany: Archana Kamath keeps India alive in the quarter-final. Excellent fightback from the youngster as she fights back from 4-8 down to win the game 11-9. She beats Shan Xiano 19-17, 1-11, 11-5, 11-9 to force a fourth game. Sreeja Akula will face Kaufmann in the singles match next.

Table tennis, women’s team event quarter-finals, India 0-2 Germany: A good comeback from Kamath in the third game. Takes a seven-point lead and the wins the game 11-5 to go 2-1 ahead in the match.

Table tennis, women’s team event quarter-finals, India 0-2 Germany: It took Kamath 15 minutes to win the first game. It takes Shan just four minutes to win the second game as she blows Kamath away. The German wins the game 11-1 to level the score.

Table tennis, women’s team event quarter-finals, India 0-2 Germany: Whew! That was a really long game with neither player giving up. Kamath had as many as seven games points but Shan kept the pressure of Kamath. The Indian finally wins the game 19-17!

Athletics, women's javelin qualification: A slight improvement to 53.55m from Annu Rani, but that is nowhere close to where she needed to be. She finishes 15th in Group A after three attempts with a best of 55.81m.

That marks the end of Indian campaign in women's javelin.

Wrestling, women's 53kg: In action shortly will be Antim Panghal in the women's 53kg opening round against Turkey's Zeynip Etgil. It's been a roller coaster ride in wrestling for India so far with Nisha's injury and Vinesh Phogat's disqualification. Antim trumped Phogat in this weight category to become India's entry for 53kg. Can she bring in better results?

Table tennis, women’s team event quarter-finals, India 0-2 Germany: Batra has lost all momentum after winning the first game. Her body language is in stark contrast to Kaufmann’s who celebrates every point. The German teen beats Batra 8-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-5 to give her team a 2-0 lead.

Athletics, women's javelin qualification: A 53.22m distance for Annu Rani with her second attempt. That doesn't do her any good. She is down to 15th in Group A and will need a massive effort with her third and final attempt.

Table tennis, women’s team event quarter-finals, India 0-1 Germany: Batra with a much better start in the third game. She is two points ahead midway through the game but loses steam as Kaufmann races away with game. Batra loses the third game 7-11.

Athletics, men's high jump qualification: Yet another X for Sarvesh Kushare at the 2.20m bar and he is out. His Olympics dream ends in the qualification round. India's won't have any representation in men's high jump final.

Table tennis, women’s team event quarter-finals, India 0-1 Germany: Kaufmann takes charge in the second game as he brings up six game points and seals the game 11-5 at the second time of asking.

Athletics, men's high jump: Sarvesh Kushare clears 2.15m with his first attempt, but has recorded two failed tries in the next 2.20m. One more failure at this bar and he would be out. The automatic qualification here is at 2.29m.

Athletics, women's javelin qualification: Annu Rani starts off with a 55.81m throw. She is currently 11th in Goroup A and has to improve by a lot. The automatic qualifying standard is at 62m.

Athletics, women's 100m hurdle Heat 4: A poor start for Jyothi Yarraji and she never quite recovers. She finishes seventh in the race with a timing of 13.16s – much below her personal best.

Yarraji will move into the repechage round and will have one more shot at reaching the semi-finals.

Table tennis, women’s team event quarter-finals, India 0-1 Germany: A tight first game but Batra edges ahead and wins it 11-8.

Table tennis, women’s team event quarter-finals, India 1-0 Germany: Manika Batra takes on 18-year-old Annett Kaufmann. Batra starts as favourite against the world No 100 Kaufmann.

Table tennis, women’s team event quarter-finals, India 0-1 Germany: Akula and Kamath have no answers to Wan and Shan as the German pair clinches the game 11-6 and wins the match 3-1 to give their side the lead.

Athletics, marathon racewalk mixed relay: India's Suraj Panwar and Priyanka Goswami end with a DNF – did not finish.

Table tennis, women’s team event quarter-finals, India vs Germany: Oh dear. Akula and Kamath squander four game points as Wan and Shan win six points in a row to take the third game 12-10.

Table tennis, women’s team event quarter-finals, India vs Germany: A much better showing from Akula and Kamath. They take a 9-5 lead. The Germans fight back trying to close the gap. Akula and Kamath hold on and seal the game 11-8.

Table tennis, women’s team event quarter-finals, India vs Germany: Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath lose the first game in the doubles match. Wan Yuan and Shan Xiano race through the game and win it 11-5.

Table tennis, women’s team event quarter-finals, India vs Germany: Right then. All we can do is dust ourselves off and look forward. We have many Indians in action today including the women’s table tennis team.

They will take on fifth seeds Germany in the quarter-final.

Explained, Olympics 2024: Why Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from wrestling gold medal match

Vinesh Phogat was dealt a heartbreak on Wednesday after she was disqualified from the women’s 50kg wrestling final for being above the weight limit at the morning weigh-in at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Here’s why Phogat was disqualified from the event.

Athletics, Marathon race walk mixed relay: Priyanka Goswami’s leg was timed at 46.28 and India slip to 24th place after two legs and 21.45kms.

Golf, women’s individual: Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar have begun their Olympic campaigns at the Le Golf National. Ashok was in supreme form back in Tokyo 2020 when she finished a historic fourth in the women’s event. After the disappointing run by the Indian golfers in the men’s event, the women will be hoping for better finishes.

Wrestling, women’s 50kg: A horrible start to the day for India. The Indian Express is reporting that Vinesh Phogat is set to be disqualified from the final after being overweight at the weigh-in today. Absolute heartbreak.

Athletics, Marathon race walk mixed relay: Suraj Panwar finishes the opening leg of 11.45km with a time of 44.49 which puts India in 16th place overall. Three more legs to go in the race.

Australian teen makes history in Paris

Australian teenage skateboarding sensation Arisa Trew won the women's park event at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday to become her country's youngest ever gold medallist.

Trew, 14, nailed a high-risk and high-speed final round in her trademark pink helmet to leap to the top of the rankings, bringing the crowd to their feet at a sun-drenched Place de la Concorde stadium.

(Text from AFP)

Athletics, Marathon race walk mixed relay: The rules for the debut event are pretty simple. A total of 25 teams, comprising of one man and a woman, will compete in a distance of 42.195km – the standard distance for a marathon, hence the name.

The two racewalkers in a team will alternate for the 42.195km divided into four legs. The first leg of 11.45km will be run my the male athlete, followed by 10km by the woman. The male athlete will return for the next 10km before the woman finishes off the remaining 10.745km. Much like relay races on track where athletes exchange batons, racewalk mixed relay will see the competitors exchange wristbands in the designated change zones.

Athletics, Marathon race walk mixed relay: The latest event in the world of athletics – Mixed relay race walk – will make its Olympic debut today. India will be represented by the team of Suraj Panwar and Priyanka Goswami in the event.

While the will mark an Olympic debut for Panwar as well, Goswami will be looking to make some amends after finishing 41st out of the 45 racewalkers in women's 20km individual event.

Currently India is in joint 63rd place with Tajikistan, with both countries having won three bronze medals at this stage.

However, things could change rapidly with a confirmed medal coming from Vinesh Phogat in wrestling while Mirabai Chanu is set to stand on the podium again in the weightlifting women’s 49kg category.

Hello and welcome to Scroll’s coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

After a stunning run on Tuesday where she beat top seed and world No 1 Yui Susaki of Japan en route to the women’s 50kg final, India’s Vinesh Phogat will fight for gold today. The three-time Olympian will have a shot at becoming the first-ever Indian woman to win an Olympic gold.

Meanwhile weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, who had opened India’s medal tally at the Tokyo Games three years back, will also be in contention for a medal in women’s 49kg.

Also fighting for medals will be the marathon race walk mixed team of Suraj Panwar and Priyanka Goswami, alongside the men’s 3000m steeplechase athlete Avinash Sable.

Besides the medal events, the Indian women’s table tennis team will look to keep their dream run going as they take on a higher-ranked Germany in the quarter-finals. Aditi Ashok, who had finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics, will also begin her women’s golf campaign with Diksha Dagar.

Moreover, the likes of Antim Panghal, Jyothi Yarraji, Sarvesh Kushare, Abdulla Aboobacker and Praveen Chitravel will mark their Olympic debuts on Wednesday.

Stay tuned for all the latest updates!

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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

Screenshots in blog courtesy Jio Cinema and 2024 Paris Olympics website.