The Olympics is finally here and this time Paris will see a full spectacle as the mega sporting event isn't marred by the COVID pandemic as in the previous edition. India, on its part, has sent its second-largest contingent with 117 athletes, including 70 men and 47 women, across 16 sports disciplines.
The athletes will be competing across 69 events for 95 medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The country had its record contingent of 124 athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
As many as 72 athletes will be reportedly making their debut this time, making them more than 61% of the total strength. As the city of love is set for the festival, let's take a closer look at India's contingent.
Eyes On Past Medal Winners
The country will be hoping that those athletes who made the country proud at the previous editions will repeat the history.
Neeraj Chopra had bagged India's first track-and-field gold by winning the javelin throw event at Tokyo 2020. Mirabai Chanu's silver medal at Tokyo was the second Olympic medal by an Indian weightlifter after Karnam Malleswari. PV Sindhu is the first Indian woman to claim two Olympic medals after her bronze medal in Tokyo, adding to her silver from Rio 2016.
Lovlina Borgohain won a bronze medal in Tokyo. With this, she became the third Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal, following Mary Kom and Vijender Singh.
The Indian hockey team so far has 12 medals — eight gold, one silver and three bronze. However, the Indian women's hockey team couldn’t qualify for the Olympics this time.
Age Just A Number?
Tennis star Rohan Bopanna is the oldest athlete from India. It will be Bopanna's third Olympic appearance in Paris in 2024. He became the oldest world No. 1 in doubles tennis rankings at the age of 43 by winning the Australian Open.
The youngest athlete representing India is 14-year-old swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu from Bengaluru. She will be making her Olympic debut in Paris 2024.
The State Of States
Most athletes are from Haryana, which is sending 24 athletes to Paris, including Neeraj Chopra and Anshu Malik (wrestling).
Here's the distribution of India's 117-member contingent across other states and Union territories: Assam (1), Chandigarh (2), Delhi (4), Goa (1), Gujarat (2), Jharkhand (1), Karnataka (7), Kerala (6), Madhya Pradesh (2), Maharashtra (5), Manipur (2), Odisha (2), Punjab (19), Rajasthan (2), Tamil Nadu (13), Telangana (4), Uttarakhand (4), Uttar Pradesh (7) and West Bengal (3).
With seven medals, Tokyo 2020 was historical for India. This time, expectations are higher as the double-digit mark is within grasp.
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