Compared to the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, India will have marginally fewer athletes in Paris. The overall contingent size, though, will be bigger. This is because of the higher number of coaches and other support staff who will accompany the players in their bid for Olympic glory.
On Wednesday, after the sports ministry cleared the full list, the Indian Olympic Association said 117 athletes will represent India at the Games, which begin in 8 days, on July 26. In addition, there will be 140-strong support staff taking the final tally to 257. India’s contingent size for the delayed Tokyo Games was 228, including 121 athletes.
In a letter addressed to Indian Olympic Association chief PT Usha, the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports said that 67 support personnel will be staying inside the Games Village considering the permissible limit as per norms of the Paris Organising Committee. Beyond that, additional coaches and other support staff to the count of 72 have been approved at cost to the government, and they will stay at locations outside the Games Village.
The obvious difference between Tokyo and Paris is the improved ratio between athletes and support staff, which Usha said was a conscious effort. “Instead of the usual 3:1 ratio between athletes and support staff, we have worked hard to change it to slightly better than 1:1 ratio,” said Usha in a statement on Wednesday.
A quick glance at the confirmed list of support staff highlights a few aspects. Athletics and shooting, which account for a total of 50 athletes including reserves, also boast of the most supporting officials (35). In shooting alone, 18 officials are set to accompany a record-breaking contingent of 21 athletes. In wrestling’s case, a total of 12 staff members have been listed for the 6-member contingent.
Antim’s coach not included in long list
Usha, who famously finished 4th at the 1984 Olympics during her playing career, lashed out at the ad-hoc wrestling committee for issues surrounding Antim Panghal’s team. Antim is reportedly still waiting for visas for coach Bhagat Singh, physiotherapist Heera and sparring partner Vikas. All of them are mentioned in the list of officials approved.
“In its wisdom the (IOA-appointed) Ad Hoc Committee administering wrestling, chose not to include the names of Antim’s coach or physiotherapist in the long list of names sent to the Olympic Games Organising Committee,” said Usha.
“It is strange that the responsible authorities, who approved the long list of athletes, coaching and support staff, did not deem it fit to recommend the inclusion of Bhagat Singh or Heera or Vikas. It was only after Antim’s father came to IOA a few days ago that I stepped in to have them cleared by the Ministry. We are confident that despite such misleading reports, IOA will be able to facilitate a speedy processing of visa requests of those coaches and support staff cleared by the Ministry.”
India returned from the Japanese capital with their best tally in the history of the Summer Olympics, with a total of seven medals.
As reported earlier, federations of five sports central to India’s hopes have projected a combined medal haul of approximately 10. At the previous Tokyo Olympics, India won seven medals, including a first-ever gold in track and field from Neeraj Chopra in javelin. It was India’s best performance at the Olympics.
For Paris, the Athletics Federation of India has estimated that the sport would contribute two medals to the overall tally. Boxing has predicted three, badminton has raised the possibility of “two-three” medals while archery and weightlifting have put their calculations at one medal each.
All eyes will mainly be on returning medallists from Tokyo, led by the ever-consistent Neeraj Chopra who created history at the delayed 2020 Games, by becoming the first Indian track and field athlete to clinch gold at the event.
PV Sindhu, nominated as the second flagbearer recently alongside table tennis stalwart Achanta Sharath Kamal, will be gunning for a hat-trick while the men’s hockey team will have its task cut out to equal or better their bronze that ended a four-decade wait. Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and boxer Lovlina Borgohain will also be looking to enter an elite club of multiple medallists from India.
Here is a look at the full list of India’s Paris Olympics participants approved by the Sports Ministry:
Athletics (27 +2)
Men: 17+1
| Name | Event |
| Sarvesh Kushare | Men’s High Jump |
| Suraj Panwar | Marathon race walk mixed relay |
| Akshdeep Singh | Men’s 20km Racewalk |
| Vikas Singh | Men’s 20km Racewalk |
| Paramjeet Bisht | Men’s 20km Racewalk |
| Kishore Jena | Men’s Javelin Throw |
| Neeraj Chopra | Men’s Javelin Throw |
| Muhammed Anas | Men’s 4x400m Relay |
| Muhammed Ajmal | Men’s 4x400m Relay |
| Amoj Jacob | Men’s 4x400m Relay |
| Santhosh Tamilarasan | Men’s 4x400m Relay |
| Rajesh Ramesh | Men’s 4x400m Relay |
| Avinash Sable | Men’s 3000m Steeplechase |
| Tajinderpal Singh Toor | Men’s Shot Put |
| Abdulla Aboobacker | Men’s Triple Jump |
| Praveel Chithravel | Men’s Triple Jump |
| Jeswin Aldrin | Men’s Long Jump |
| (Reserve) | |
| Mijo Chacko Kurian | AP Athlete |
Women: (10+1)
| Name | Event |
| Annu Rani | Women’s Javelin Throw |
| Parul Chaudhary | Women’s 3000m Steeplechase, Women’s 5000m |
| Kiran Pahal | Women’s 400m, Women’s 4x400m relay |
| Jyothi Yarraji | Women’s 100m Hurdles |
| Ankita Dhyani | Women’s 5000m |
| Priyanka Goswami | Women’s 20km Racewalk, Marathon race walk mixed relay |
| Jyothika Sri Dandi | Women’s 4x400m relay |
| Subha Venkatesan | Women’s 4x400m relay |
| Vithya Ramraj | Women’s 4x400m relay |
| Poovamma MR | Women’s 4x400m relay |
| (Reserve) | |
| Prachi | AP athlete |
Archery (6)
Men
| Name | Event |
| Dhiraj Bommadevara | Men’s Recurve |
| Tarundeep Rai | Men’s Recurve |
| Pravin Jadhav | Men’s Recurve |
Women
| Name | Event |
| Bhajan Kaur | Women’s Recurve |
| Deepika Kumari | Women’s Recurve |
| Ankita Bhakat | Women’s Recurve |
Badminton (7)
Men:
| Name | Event |
| HS Prannoy | Men’s Singles |
| Lakshya Sen | Men’s Singles |
| Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty | Men’s Doubles |
Women:
| PV Sindhu | Women’s Singles |
| Ashwini Ponnappa, Tanisha Crasto | Women’s Doubles |
Boxing (6)
| Name | Event |
| Men: | |
| Nishant Dev | 71kg |
| Amit Panghal | 51kg |
| Women: | |
| Nikhat Zareen | 50kg |
| Preeti Pawar | 54kg |
| Jaismine Lamboria | 57kg |
| Lovlina Borgohain | 75kg |
Equestrian (1)
Anush Agarwalla – Dressage
Hockey (16 +3)
Men
PR Sreejesh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Sanjay, Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh
Men’s hockey team reserves: Nilakanta Sharma, Jugraj Singh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak
Judo (1)
Tulika Maan – Women’s +78kg
Rowing (1)
Balraj Panwar – Men’s single scull
Sailing (2)
Men: Vishnu Saravanan – Men’s dinghy
Women: Nethra Kumanan – Women’s dinghy
Shooting (21)
| Name | Event |
| Men: | |
| Sandeep Singh | 10m Air Rifle M |
| Arjun Babuta | 10m Air Rifle M |
| Aishwary Tomar | 50m Rifle 3 Positions M |
| Swapnil Kusale | 50m Rifle 3 Positions M |
| Sarabjot Singh | 10m Air Pistol M |
| Arjun Cheema | 10m Air Pistol M |
| Anish Bhanwal | 25m RFP M |
| Vijayveer Sidhu | 25m RFP M |
| Prithviraj Tondaiman | Men’s Trap |
| Anantjeet Singh Naruka | Men’s Skeet, Skeet Mixed Team |
| Women: | |
| Elavenil Valarivan, Ramita | 10m Air Rifle W |
| Sift Kaur Samra | 50m Rifle 3 Positions W |
| Anjum Moudgil | 50m Rifle 3 Positions W |
| Rhythm Sangwan | 10m Air Pistol W |
| Manu Bhaker | 10m Air Pistol W, 25m Pistol W |
| Esha Singh | 25m Pistol W |
| Rajeshwari Kumari | Women’s Trap |
| Shreyasi Singh | Women’s Trap |
| Maheshwari Chauhan | Women’s Skeet, Skeet Mixed Team |
| Raiza Dhillon | Women’s Skeet |
Swimming (2)
Men: Srihari Nataraj – Men’s 100m Backstroke
Women: Dhinidhi Desinghu – Women’s 200m Freestyle
Table Tennis (6+2)
Men: Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar.
Women: Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, Archana Kamath.
Table tennis reserves: Sathiyan G, Ayhika Mukherjee
Tennis (3)
Rohan Bopanna, N Sriram Balaji – Men’s Doubles
Sumit Nagal – Men’s Singles
Weightlifting (1)
Mirabai Chanu – Women’s49kg
Wrestling (6)
Men:
Aman Sehrawat – Men’s 57kg
Women:
Vinesh Phogat – Women’s 50kg
Antim Panghal – Women’s 53kg
Anshu Malik – Women’s 57kg
Nisha Dahiya – Women’s 68kg
Reetika Hooda- – Women’s 76kg
