Unpopular Opinion: In clash of expectations vs reality, India falls short once again at Paris Olympics

Until July 25, many believed India could actually get 10 medals at the Paris Olympics if everything went well. It was always going to be a tough task, considering it’s a high pressure situation & also our poor track record till now..but largely, the expectation only remained high from the Indian squad, that boasted of the likes of Neeraj Chopra, Mirabai Chanu, Vinesh Phogat, Manu Bhaker, Nikhat Zareen, and Lovlina Borgohain.

Come August 11, the last day of the Olympics 2024, India has finished outside top 70 nations with one silver and five bronze medals. This is somewhat similar to what we had managed in London 2012. But the level of our athletes is certainly way higher now from what is was 12 years back. So in that regard, overall Paris 2024 was just not up to the mark.

7 Fourth-place Finishes at Paris Olympics

Despite bagging twin medals in 10m air pistol, and 10m air pistol mixed event, Manu Bhaker failed to get a medal in her pet event, the women’s 25m air pistol. She was in the fray till the very last moment, but only settled for a fourth place finish. On the other hand, shuttler Lakshya Sen played well till the semis, but was poor in the execution, come the medal rounds. India lost another medal there.

Then there was the mixed archery team of Dhiraj Bommadevara & Ankita Bhakat, who lost in the bronze medal round to USA. Shooter Arjun Babuta ended in the similar fourth position in the 10m air rifle event, while Anant Jeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan followed the suit in mixed skeet. Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Mirabai Chanu also finished fourth in her weightlifting event, while Nishant Dev was robbed off a bronze, in his quarters bout of men’s 71 kg boxing.

In short, there were medal expectations from at least four of them, eventually which did not come India’s way. So it was the reality that hit Indians hard here.

Unexpected Medals From Swapnil Kusale & Hockey Team

Winning a medal is always a great achievement for a country, and if it is unexpected, the happiness grows multifold. That could hold true in the cases of 50 m rifle 3 positions shooter Swapnil Kusale and the Indian hockey team. While no one can deny their quality, it was just the matter of current form, that looked a bit shaky. One must concede, that the expectations of these two medals were low, but nonetheless, they are massive achievements for India.

Poor Show From Wrestlers, Boxers & Shutters Hit India Hard

Despite Aman Sehrawat’s bronze medal in wrestling, it remained a flop show along with boxing. The hopes were mighty high from Vinesh, Antim, and Nisha, but medals could not come there. Well, what happened with Vinesh and Nisha is unfortunate to say the least, but at the end of the day, a miss is a miss. At the end of the day, due to the disqualification, in what looked like a sure shot medal from her, was not meant to be.

Similarly in boxing, yes, Nishant Dev got a bad decision, but what excuse will Lovlina and Nikhat have. Yes, they both got tough Chinese boxers, but then, one asks, why weren’t they on the top of their games when they met good boxers. It is nothing but a big miss there as well.

Lastly, badminton has to be the biggest disappointment. No one thought PV Sindhu could get a medal this time, but men’s doubles team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty, who were seen as gold medal contenders, played poorly to be ousted from quarters. Same with Lakshya Sen. We can safely say, it was a loss of two medals there as well. If we factor in all these lost opportunities, India should have been sitting pretty at at least 11-12 medals.