Ace table tennis player Sharath Kamal will be the Indian team’s flagbearer for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics, while Olympic bronze medalist MC Mary Kom has been named as the chef de mission for the Summer Games, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) announced on Thursday.
Ranked World No. 88, Kamal has won the national table tennis championship a record 10 times. He has also claimed 13 medals at the CWG, including seven golds, and has earned two medals at the Asian Games. The legendary table tennis player is also a three-time bronze medalist at the World Championships.
Joining him in the spotlight is MC Mary Kom, the first female boxer in boxing history to have captured six world titles. The five-time Asian champion was also the first female boxer from India to win a gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games.
The experienced boxer won a bronze medal in the London 2012 Olympic Games, leaving no record or title untouched. She introduced herself to the world at the age of 18 at the inaugural world meet in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, Gagan Narang, a bronze medalist in the 10m air rifle event at the 2012 London Olympics, has been appointed to head the shooting village operations for the Paris Olympics. Shooting, which earned India its first individual Olympic medal in Beijing 2008, has not produced an Indian medalist since London 2012.
The Olympic Games will take place from July 26 to August 11.