The Paris Olympics turned out to be a bittersweet journey for the Indian contingent, as they failed to clinch a single gold medal at the recently concluded Summer Games. However, it was a standout year for Manu Bhaker, who rose to fame with her remarkable double Olympic medal haul.
Team India concluded their Paris Olympics campaign with six medals, including one silver and five bronze. Despite sending 117 athletes to compete across various events, the nation could not secure a gold. India ranked 71st on the Paris Olympics medals tally, while the United States dominated with 126 medals.
One of the major highlights of the Games was the emergence of shooter Manu Bhaker. The 22-year-old became the first Indian athlete in the post-independence era to win two medals in a single edition of the Olympics, a feat previously achieved by Norman Pritchard at the Paris 1900 Games. Bhaker opened India’s medal tally by securing bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol event, becoming the first Indian woman shooter to win an Olympic medal. She, along with Sarabjot Singh, later won another bronze in the mixed team 10m air pistol event, marking India’s first-ever shooting team medal.
Bhaker narrowly missed a historic grand treble, finishing fourth in the women’s 25m pistol shooting event. She came close to becoming the first Indian to win three medals at the Olympics.
Swapnil Kusale added to the tally with a bronze in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men’s Final, becoming the first Indian shooter to win a medal in this event.
Neeraj Chopra, India’s “golden boy,” secured silver in the men’s javelin throw with a best throw of 89.45 meters, falling short of retaining his Tokyo gold. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem claimed gold with a record-breaking 92.97-meter throw, while Grenada’s Anderson Peters earned bronze.
The Indian men’s hockey team also scripted history by winning back-to-back bronze medals at the Olympics for the first time in 52 years, defeating Spain 2-1.
Young wrestler Aman Sehrawat brought home India’s first wrestling medal at Paris 2024, securing bronze in the 57 kg freestyle event in his Olympic debut. He became the seventh Indian wrestler to medal at the Olympics.
Despite these milestones, the Games were marred by near misses. Six athletes, including Lakshya Sen, Mirabai Chanu, and Bhaker, finished fourth in their events, narrowly missing out on medals. The mixed team archery duo of Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat made history by reaching an Olympic medal match but fell short in the bronze medal contest.
Other setbacks included Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s semifinal exit in men’s badminton doubles and PV Sindhu’s inability to secure a third consecutive Olympic medal. Veteran archer Deepika Kumari, boxers Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain, and wrestler Vinesh Phogat also fell short of expectations.
India participated in 69 medal events across 16 sports at Paris 2024, including archery, athletics, badminton, and shooting. To date, India has won 41 Olympic medals, with its best-ever performance coming at Tokyo 2020, where the nation bagged seven medals, including a gold.