India sent over a 100 athletes to compete at the Olympic Games for a third consecutive edition. That contingent returned with its joint second-best medal haul of six medals.

Neeraj Chopra won silver in the javelin throw, to go along with three bronze medals in shooting and a third position standing each in men’s hockey and wrestling.

But outside of the six medallists, there were several near-misses and even an ongoing struggle for Vinesh Phogat at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, where it is till uncertain if the wrestler will be given an Olympic medal for being 100 grams overweight.

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This was a campaign where some athletes performed under-par while a few others defied all expectations and excelled.

The Field goes through the entire contingent to dissect their performances in Paris.

Discipline Male Female Total
Archery  3 6
Athletics  18 11 29
Badminton  4 7
Boxing  2 4 6
Equestrian  1 0
Golf 
Hockey  16 0 16 
Judo  0 1
Rowing  1 0 1
Sailing  2
Shooting  10 11 21
Swimming  1 2
Table Tennis  3 3 6
Tennis  3 0
Weightlifting  0 1
Wrestling  1 5 6
Total  66 46 112

India's medal winners at Paris Olympics

Medal Name Sport Event Date
Bronze Manu Bhaker Shooting Women's 10m air pistol 28 July 
Bronze  Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh
Shooting Mixed 10m air pistol team 30 July
Bronze Swapnil Kusale Shooting Men's 50m rifle 3 positions 1 August 
Bronze Men's hockey team Hockey Men's tournament 8 August 
Silver Neeraj Chopra Athletics Men's javelin throw 
8 August 
Bronze Aman Sehrawat Wrestling  Men's freestyle 57 kg  9 August 

Archery

With both the men’s and women’s teams qualifying for Paris via rankings, there were a lot of hopes that rested on the shoulders of the six-member Indian archery contingent. Led by veteran Deepika Kumari, on her return from a maternity break a year ago, and youngster Dhiraj Bommadevara, the country hoped Paris would see the coming of India’s first Olympic medal in the sport.

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The campaign began well enough as the six Indians put in a solid performance during the qualification round before the Paris Games officially began.

The men’s team were seeded third and the women’s team fourth while the mixed team comprising Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat were seeded fifth.

However, when the knock-out rounds began, they did not build on that momentum. Both the men’s and women’s teams, receiving a bye in their first round due to their higher seeding, exited the event in the quarter-finals.

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In the men’s individual event, Bommadevara went until the Round of 32 while both Tarundeep Rai and Pravin Jadhav exited in the opening round. Bhakat also lost in the first round of the women’s individual event while Kumari and 18-year-old Bhajan Kaur reached the Round of 16.

The Indian contingent did cross one landmark when they reached the semi-finals of the mixed team event with Bommadevara and Bhakat, the first time ever for India at an Olympic edition.

Fourth place for Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat, but plenty to cheer

Dismal end to Paris campaign demands new approach for India

Archery

Event Athletes Results
Men's Individual  Dhiraj Bommadevara Qual: 681/720 (Rank 4) 

Eliminations: Lost in Rd of 32 against CAN

Rank: 17
Men's Individual  Tarundeep Rai
Qual: 674/720 (Rank 14)

Eliminations: Lost in Rd of 64 against GB

Rank: 33
Men's Individual  Pravin Jadhav     Qual: 658/720 (Rank 39)

Eliminations: Lost in Rd of 64 against CHN

Rank: 33
Women's Individual  Deepika Kumari   Qual: 658/720 (Rank 23)

Eliminations: Lost in QF against KOR

Rank: 7
Women's Individual  Bhajan Kaur Qual: 659/720 (Rank 22)

Eliminations: Lost in Rd of 16 against INA

Rank: 9
Women's Individual  Ankita Bhakat Qual: 666/720 (Rank 11)

Eliminations: Lost in Rd of 64 against POL

Rank: 33
Men's Team  Dhiraj Bommadevara, Pravin Jadhav, Tarundeep Rai   Qual: 2013/2160 (Rank 3)

Eliminations: Lost in QF against TUR

Rank: 5
Women's Team Ankita Bhakat, Bhajan Kaur, Deepika Kumari Qual: 1983/2160 (Rank 4)

Eliminations: Lost in QF against NED

Rank: 8 
Mixed team  Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat  Qual: 1347/1440 (Rank 5)

Eliminations: Lost in Bronze Medal match against USA

Rank: 4

Athletics

Neeraj Chopra was India’s biggest hope for an Olympic medal, not only in athletics but in the entire Games itself. Coming into Paris, Chopra, the reigning Olympic and World Champion javelin thrower, had finished on the podium in every competition he had competed in since 2018.

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The Indian Army Subedar delivered on the promise by winning silver as he saw his friend and rival, Pakistan’s Nadeem Arshad win gold with an Olympic record throw.

Apart from Chopra, only steeplechaser Avinash Sable reached a track and field final in Paris. Sable, the 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist, was yearning to make amends for Tokyo 2020 when he failed to reach the final.

In the quickest heat, Sable sailed through to the final with the fifth-fastest time. In a field stacked with runners who regularly posted timings in the low eight-minute marks, Sable finished just outside the top 10 with a respectable time of 8:14.18 min.

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Though Parul Chaudhary did not make it to the final of the women’s 5000m or 3000m steeplechase events, she posted her season best timings in the qualification round of both events.

The men’s 4x400m relay team also posted their season best time in the heat but missed the cut for the final by less than half a second.

It was a disappointing campaign from the likes of shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor, javelin thrower Annu Rani, long jumper Jeswin Aldrin and triple jumpers Praveen Chithravel and Abdulla Aboobacker with none of them even threatening to qualify for their respective finals.

Neeraj Chopra continues to build on his great sporting legacy in Paris

Athletics

Event Athletes Results
Men's 20km Race Walk  Vikash Singh Position: 30

Timing: 1:22:36
Men's 20km Race Walk  Paramjeet Singh Position: 37

Timing: 1:23:48
Men's 20km Race Walk  Akshdeep Singh Did Not Finish
Women's 20km Race Walk  Priyanka Goswami Position: 41

Timing: 1:39:55
Women's 5000m Parul Chaudhary Rank in heats: 24th overall

Timing: 15:10.68 (SEASON BEST)
Women's 5000m Ankita Rank in heats: 40th overall

Timing: 16:19.38
Men's Shot Put  Tajinderpal Singh Toor   Rank in qual: 29th overall 

Best throw: 18.05m
Women's 3000m Steeplechase Parul Chaudhary Rank in heats: 21st overall

Timing: 9:23.39 (SEASON BEST)
Men's Long Jump  Jeswin Aldrin Rank in qual: 26th overall 

Best jump: 7.61
Women's 400m Kiran Pahal Rank in heats: 39th overall (round 1)

Timing: 52.52

Rank in repechage: 23rd overall 

Timing: 52.59
Men's 3000m Steeplechase  Avinash Sable   Rank in heats: 5th overall

Timing: 8:15.43 

Rank in final: 11th

Timing: 8:14.18
Men's Javelin Throw  Neeraj Chopra  Rank in qual: 1st overall

Best throw: 89.34m

Rank in final: 2nd (Silver)

Best throw: 89.45m (SEASON BEST)
Men's Javelin Throw  Kishore Kumar Jena Rank in qual: 18th overall

Best throw: 80.73m
Marathon Race Walk Relay Mixed  Suraj Panwar and Priyanka Goswami Did Not Finish
Men's High Jump Sarvesh Kushare Position: 25th overall

Best jump: 2.15m
Women's 100m hurdles Jyothi Yarraji Position: 35th overall (round 1)

Timing: 13.16

Position: 16th overall (repechage)

Timing: 13.17
Women's Javelin Throw
Annu Rani Rank in qual: 29th overall

Best throw: 55.81m
Men's Triple Jump Abdulla Aboobacker Position: 21st overall

Best jump: 16.49m
Men's Triple Jump Praveen Chithravel Position: 27th overall

Best jump: 16.25m
Women's 4x400m Relay  Vithya Ramraj, Jyothika Sri Dandi, MR Poovamma, Subha Venkatesan Rank in heats: 15th overall

Timing: 3:32.51
Men's 4x400m Relay  Muhammed Ajmal, Muhammed Anas, Rajesh Ramesh, Amoj Jacob Rank in heats: 10th overall

Timing: 3:00.58 (SEASON BEST)

Badminton

India’s medal winning streak at the Olympics in badminton came to a halt at the La Chapelle Arena in Paris. For the first time since Saina Nehwal’s bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics, no Indian shuttler stood on the Olympic podium.

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PV Sindhu’s bid for a hat-trick of medals was denied by a raging He Bing Jiao, who went on to win the silver medal later, in the pre-quarterfinals. The double Olympic medallist started off with two comfortable wins, but fell to the Chinese shuttler on the same day Sindhu had defeated He to win a bronze in Tokyo three years back.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, India’s best medal bet in badminton, were in for a rude shock as they went down to eventual bronze medallists Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik of Malaysia in the quarter-finals.

The women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto endured a torrid time as they bowed out with three losses in as many matches.

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Contrastingly, Lakshya Sen gave a good account of himself. He emerged unbeaten from Group L, despite his opening win being deleted. Sen went on to reach the semi-finals before losing two matches in a row from a winning position to finish fourth and bow out empty handed after all the hardwork. He also ended the run of compatriot HS Prannoy in the Round of 16.

Lakshya Sen expands his limits with stunning run in Paris

Satwiksairaj-Chirag’s medal hopes end in heartbreak

Badminton

Event  Athletes  Results
Men's Singles  Lakshya Sen Group stage: Defeated Kevin Cordon (Result deleted after Cordon withdrew), Julien Carragi, Jonatan Christie

Round of 16: Defeated HS Prannoy

Quarter-final: Defeated Chou Tien Chen

Semi-final: Lost to Viktor Axelsen

Bronze medal: Lost to Lee Zii Jia
Men's Singles  HS Prannoy Group stage: Defeated Fabian Roth, Le Duc Phat

Round of 16: Lost to Lakshya Sen
Women's Singles  PV Sindhu  Group stage: Defeated Kristin Kuuba, Fathimath Razzaq

Round of 16: Lost to He Bing Jao (evential silver medallist)
Men's Doubles  Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty   Group stage: Defeated Corvee/Labar, Fajar/Ardianto

Quarter-final: Lost to Chia/Soh (eventual bronze medallists)
Women's Doubles  Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa Group stage: Lost to Kim/Kong, Matsuyama/Shida, Mapasa/Yu

Boxing

The Indian boxing contingent’s 2024 Olympics journey ended without adding to the country’s medal tally. Historically, India has claimed three bronze medals in Olympic boxing – Vijender Singh in Beijing 2008, Mary Kom in London 2012, and Lovlina Borgohain in Tokyo 2020.

However, in Paris 2024, none were secured. The six-member team, comprising four women and two men, saw four boxers eliminated in the preliminary rounds.

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It was anticipated that a good showing will be tall order partly due to the tough draws that were handed to the top medal prospects – Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain – but the rest of it was largely down to the boxers being outclassed by better quality opponents. The turbulence behind the scenes in the build-up to Paris had also meant that the possibility of good results was looking grim, but returning with no medals at all is quite the shock.

Nishant Dev and Lovlina Borgohain advanced to the quarter-finals but fell short of securing a medal, leaving the Indian contingent without a podium finish. It seems the wake-up call we spoke about did not come in time...

Boxing

Event  Athlete  Results
Men's 51kg Amit Panghal  Round of 16: Lost 1-4 against Patrick Chinyamba
Men's 71kg Nishant Dev Round of 16: Beat Jose Rodriguez 3-2

Quarter-final: Lost to Marco Verde 1-4
Women's 50kg Nikhat Zareen Round of 32: Beat Maxi Klotzer 5-0

Round of 16: Lost to Wu Yu 0-5
Women's 54kg Preeti Pawar Round of 32: Beat Vo Thi Kim Anh 5-0

Round of 16: Lost to Yeni Arias 2-3
Women's 57kg Jaismine Lamboria Round of 32: Lost to Nesthy Petecio 0-5
Women's 75kg Lovlina Borgohain 
Round of 16: Beat Sunniva Hofstad 5-0

Quarter-final: Lost to Li Qian 1-4

Equestrian

The 2022 Asian Games gold medallist, Anush Agarwalla had a tough time at the Paris Olympics. He finished ninth in his group with a score of 66.444% riding atop Sir Caramello Old and failed to qualify for the final.

Equestrian

Event Athlete Result
Individual Dressage Rider: Anush Agarwalla

Horse: Sir Caramello Old
Grand Prix Qualifier Rank: 9

Total Score%: 66.444

Golf

At the Tokyo Olympics, Aditi Ashok had a breakthrough tournament that saw her slip down to fourth position on the last day of the women’s golf event. There were hopes and expectations that she could perhaps do better this time.

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But it was an overall underwhelming golf campaign for the four Indians competing.

Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar finished the men’s event tied 40th and 45th respectively. In the last few days of Paris, Aditi and Diksha Dagar finished tied 29th and 49th in the women’s event.

Golf

Event Athlete Results
Men's Individual Stroke Play  Shubhankar Sharma Rounds: 70, 69, 72, 72 (Par 71)

To Par: -1

Final standing: Tied 40th 
Men's Individual Stroke Play  Gaganjeet Bhullar Rounds: 75, 69, 71, 70 (Par 71)

To Par: +1

Final standing: Tied 45th 
Women's Individual Stroke Play  Aditi Ashok   Rounds: 72, 71, 79, 68 (Par 72)

To Par: +2

Final standing: Tied 29th 
Women's Individual Stroke Play  Diksha Dagar  Rounds: 71, 72, 80, 78 (Par 72)

To Par: +13

Final standing: Tied 49th 

Hockey

It was yet another fruitful Olympic campaign for the Indian men’s hockey team as they clinched bronze yet again. It was the perfect send off for PR Sreejesh as the veteran goalkeeper called time on his illustrious career.

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With the women’s team failing to qualify for Paris 2024 after a stunning run at Tokyo 2020, all hopes were pinned on the men’s team to return with a medal.

They began the campaign cautiously, narrowly beating New Zealand before rescuing a point against Argentina. They then beat Ireland to secure their place in the quarter-final before losing a close match to Belgium.

They finally hit their stride in their final group game as they beat Australia for the first time at the Olympics since the 1972 Munich Games. They followed that up with a stunning back-to-the-wall performance against Great Britain in the quarter-final. Down to 10 players after Amit Rohidas was sent off, India held Great Britain to a 1-1 before Sreejesh’s heroics in the penalty shootout helped them reach the semi-final.

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Rohidas’ one-match suspension hurt India in the semi-final as Germany clinched their place in the final with a narrow 3-2 win. India bounced back from the defeat to secure a comeback 2-1 win over Spain and win bronze, their 13th Olympic Games medal in the history of the sport.

India promise foundation of new era with bronze in Paris

Hockey

Event Result
Men's Hockey Bronze (3rd)

Indian men's hockey team results

Match Result Scoreline
New Zealand (Grp)  India win  3-2 
Argentina (Grp)  Draw 1-1 
Ireland (Grp)  India win  2-0 
Belgium (Grp) India lost 1-2
Australia (Grp) India win 3-2
Great Britain (QF)  India win  1-1 (4-2 penalty shootout)
Germany (SF)  India lost  2-3
Spain (BRONZE)  India win  2-1

Judo

Tulika Maan was the only Indian competing in the judo event. But the silver medallist from the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games was handed a tough draw as she faced Cuba’s Idalys Ortiz in the first round.

Ortiz is a four-time Olympic medallist, including winning gold in London 2012. She made quick work of the opening match to hand Maan a quick defeat.

Judo

Event Athlete Result
Women's +78kg
Tulika Maan Round of 64: Lost to Idalys Ortiz 0-10

Rowing

Having qualified for the Olympics only three years after taking up the sport, Balraj Panwar gave a good account of himself in men’s single sculls. He qualified for Final D and finished 23rd overall in the standings, clocking his best time at the Games.

Rowing

Event Athlete Race  Rank in race Time 
Men's Single Sculls Balraj Panwar Heat 1 4 7:07.11
Repechage 2  2 7:12.14
Quarter-final 4 5 7:05.10
Semi-final C/D 1 6 7:05.97
Final D 5 (Overall 23rd) 7:02.37

Sailing

Both Vishnu Saravanan and Nethra Kumanan were appearing in their second Olympics at Paris 2024.

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Competing in their events in Marseille, the men’s and women’s dinghy respectively, Saravanan and Kumanan both improved on their overall finishes from Tokyo with an 18th place finish for Saravanan and a 21st place finish for Kumanan.

Sailing

Event  Athlete  Race  Standing in race (=points) 
Men's Dinghy Vishnu Saravanan (Overall standing: 18/43)  Race 01  10
Race 02  34 (not counted in overall score)
Race 03  20
Race 04  19
Race 05  21
Race 06  13
Race 07  7
Race 08  24
Race 09  Cancelled 
Race 10  Cancelled 
Women's Dinghy Nethra Kumanan (Overall standing: 21/43) Race 01  6
Race 02  15
Race 03  27
Race 04  28
Race 05  28
Race 06  20
Race 07  21
Race 08  31 (not counted in overall score)
Race 09  10
Race 10  Cancelled

Shooting

After the troubles and disappointment faced in Rio and Tokyo, there were a lot of expectations on the shoulders of the Indian shooting contingent, the second-largest for the country after athletics in a single sport for Paris.

But the 21-member contingent were the most successful for India in Paris, with three medals and seven finals, including three fourth-place finishes. Manu Bhaker led the way through, qualifying for the final in all her three events, winning two medals in the 10m air pistol and mixed team events, and finishing fourth in her pet event, the 25m pistol.

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Bhaker’s efforts made her the first female shooter to win an Olympic medal for India and also the first Indian athlete to win two Olympic medals in the same edition since Independence. She also joined the likes of Sushil Kumar and PV Sindhu as the only Indians with two Olympic medals in individual events.

While there was heartbreak for Babuta who was in second place during the elimination rounds in the final and ultimately finished in fourth, there were also fumbles during the qualification rounds for Sift Kaur Samra, Vijayveer Sidhu, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Anish Bhanwala.

The shooting contingent ended with a near-miss of the podium with Maheshwari Chauhan and Anantjeet Singh Naruka losing the skeet mixed team bronze medal match to China.

Manu Bhaker gets ‘monkey off her back’ to create history in Paris

Arjun Babuta’s near-miss writes his name in Indian sports folklore

For Swapnil Kusale, patience finally pays in Paris

Shooting individual events

Event Athlete Qualification score  Qualification position  Last finalist cut-off (top 8)
10m air rifle Sandeep Singh 629.3 12 629.8
10m air rifle Arjun Babuta 630.1 7 qualified, finished 4th
10m air rifle Elavenil Valarivan 630.7 10 631.3
10m air rifle Ramita Jindal 631.5 5 qualified, finished 7th
50m rifle 3-positions Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar 589 11 590
50m rifle 3-positions Swapnil Kusale 590 7 qualified, won bronze
50m rifle 3-positions Sift Kaur Samra 575 31 589
50m rifle 3-positions Anjum Moudgil 584 18 589
10m air pistol Sarabjot Singh 577 (8th place had more X's than him) 9 577 
10m air pistol Arjun Singh Cheema 574 18 577
10m air pistol Manu Bhaker 580 3 qualified, won bronze
10m air pistol Rhythm Sangwan 573 15 577
25m rapid fire pistol Anish Bhanwala 582 13 585
25m rapid fire pistol Vijayveer Sidhu 583 9 585
25m pistol Manu Bhaker 590 2 qualified, finished 4th
25m pistol Esha Singh 581 18 585
Trap Prithviraj Tondaiman 118 21 122
Trap Rajeshwari Kumari 113 22 121
Trap Shreyasi Singh 113 23 121
Skeet Anantjeet Singh Naruka 116 24 122
Skeet Maheshwari Chauhan 118 14 120
Skeet Raiza Dhillon 113 23 120

Shooting mixed events

Event Athlete Qualification score Qualification position Medal match cut-off (top 4)
10m air rifle mixed team Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan 626.3 12 629.7
10m air rifle mixed team Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal 628.7 6 629.7
10m air pistol mixed team Sarabjot Singh/Manu Bhaker 580 3 qualified, won bronze
10m air pistol mixed team Arjun Singh Cheema/Rhythm Sangwan 576 10 579
Skeet mixed team Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan 146 4 qualified, finished 4th

Swimming

Srihari Nataraj and Dhinidhi Desinghu were handed the universality quota for the 2024 Paris Olympics, after no Indian swimmers were able to break the ‘A’ or ‘B’ qualification standard for the Games.

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Desinghu, the youngest Indian in Paris, won her women’s 200m freestyle heat but finished 23rd overall with a timing of 2:06.96, thereby missing out on the final. Nataraj, meanwhile, finished second in his men’s 100m backstroke heat, clocking 55.01s but was 33rd fastest overall and failed to qualify for the final.

Swimming

Event Athlete Results
Srihari Nataraj Men's 100m backstroke Rank in heats: 33rd overall

Time: 55.01s
Dhinidhi Desinghu Women's 200m freestyle Rank in heats: 23rd overall

Time: 2:06.96

Table tennis

Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula became the first-ever Indian table tennis players to make it to the third round of the singles event at the Olympics.

Their runs ended when Batra lost to Japan’s world No 12 Miu Hirano and Akula was beaten by world No 1 Sun Yinghsa of China.

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They were also a part of the women’s team that beat fourth seeds Romania 3-2 before losing in the quarter-finals to Germany.

In the men’s event, India’s flag-bearer at the opening ceremony Achanta Sharath Kamal was competing in his fifth Olympic Games. However he lost in the first round of the men’s singles event ot Deni Kozul of Slovenia.

Harmeet Desai, also in men’s singles, started his campaign in the preliminary round where he beat Jordan’s Zaid Abo Yaman to make it to the main draw. He was handed a tough draw however, as he took on France’s Felix Lebrun, the current world No 5, who went on to win their match 4-0.

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The men’s team was handed the toughest possible draw with an opening round match against China. The world No 1 team came up with a straight-match win as they went on to win gold.

Table Tennis

Event  Athletes  Results 
Men's Singles  Achanta Sharath Kamal  Lost in the first round to Slovenia's Deni Kozul 2-4
Men's Singles  Harmeet Desai Won the preliminary stage match against Jordan's Zaid Abo Yaman 4-0, but lost in the first round to Felix Lebrun 4-0
Women's Singles  Manika Batra  Lost to Japan's Miu Hirano 1-4 in the third round
Women's Singles  Sreeja Akula Lost to world No 1 Sun Yingsha of China 0-4 in the third round
Men's team Achanta Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar Lost in the first round to China 0-3
Women's team Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, Archana Kamath Lost in the quarter-final to Germany 1-3

Tennis

This was one of the sports where India has won a medal in the past. But that came a long time ago, when Leander Paes won the bronze in the men’s singles event.

There were a few hopes that Sumit Nagal would be able to get past a few opponents, given that the venue for the tennis event in Paris, Roland Garros, had his favoured clay surface.

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Nagal was handed a tricky draw, facing mercurial Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the opening round. Backed by a boisterous French crowd, Moutet took home a 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 win.

In men’s doubles, Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji were originally to play the French team of Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Fabien Reboul, only for the latter to pull out a few hours before their match. At the Olympics, the rules dictate that a player may be replaced by an athlete already competing at the tournament in a different event, and so Gael Monfils stepped in.

The match only took place a day later due to a rain delay, but the French team proved too strong for Bopanna and Balaji, as they won 7-5, 6-2.

Tennis

Event Athletes Results
Men's singles Sumit Nagal Lost in the first round to Corentin Moutet 2-6, 6-2, 5-7
Men's doubles Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji Lost in the first round to Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Gael Monfils 5-7, 2-6

Weightlifting

Mirabai Chanu, India's lone representative in this sport and one of the country's strongest medal contenders, missed the podium in Paris despite coming in as one of the lifters to look out for. The Tokyo silver medallist fell just one kilogram short of the bronze, which went to Thailand's Khambao Surodchana.

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While the narrow margin is agonising, Chanu had anticipated the heightened competition in her category long before she arrived in Paris. It is what is the biggest reason for the lack of a better result for India.

Familiar rivals like Surochana and China's Hou Zhihui were expected to pose significant challenges, but it was first-time Olympian Mihaela Cambei of Romania who delivered a surprising performance. Despite the setback of a recent hip injury, time away from the sport and subsequent rehabilitation, Chanu fought bravely to secure a fourth-place finish.

Mirabai Chanu’s Paris dream ends with a fight but by a whisker

Weightlifting

Event Athlete Result
Women's 49kg event Mirabai Chanu Finished fourth

Wrestling

Thanks to Aman Sehrawat, India's lone male wrestler in Paris, the country extended its streak of winning a wrestling medal for the fifth consecutive Olympics. The situation had started to look bleak until Sehrawat delivered a much-needed boost to India's medal tally, ultimately securing the nation’s final medal in Paris.

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The disqualification of Vinesh Phogat was particularly heartbreaking, as she was on the verge of making history as the first Indian woman to reach a final and potentially win gold. The shock and grief leading to her exit will linger in our memories for years to come.

Young Reetika Hooda came close to medaling but was outclassed by a higher-seeded and more experienced opponent in the quarter-finals.

Antim Panghal, another strong medal hope, suffered a shocking humiliating defeat in her opening round.

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Anshu Malik was eliminated in the first round by the eventual bronze medallist in her category, while Nisha Dahiya’s campaign ended tragically in the quarter-final as she succumbed to injury and defeat after leading for most of her bout.

Despite winning just the solitary medal through Sehrawat, the Indian wrestling contingent put up a brave fight in Paris thanks to Phogat, Hooda and Dahiya.

Vinesh Phogat’s battles off the mat lead to greater triumphs on it

What Vinesh Phogat achieved cannot be validated by a medal

Aman Sehrawat writes the first chapter of his long journey ahead

Wrestling

Event  Athletes  Results
Women's Freestyle 50kg  Vinesh Phogat  Won in round of 16
Won in quarter-final
Won in semi-final
Disqualified
Women's Freestyle 53kg  Antim Pangha Lost in round of 16
Women's Freestyle 57kg  Anshu Malik  Lost in round of 16
Women's Freestyle 76kg  Reetika Hooda Won in round of 16
Lost in quarter-final
Men's Freestyle 57kg  Aman Sehrawat Won in round of 16
Won in quarter-final
Lost in semi-final
Won in bronze medal match via repechage (BRONZE)