Arjun Babuta joins the ranks of Indian Olympians who finished fourth, a look at the heartbreaks

The Olympics are incredibly tough, and even a small mistake can mean missing out on a medal. This happened to Arjun Babuta on Monday at Paris Olympics 2024. He narrowly missed a medal due to a single mistake. At one point, Arjun was in second place, looking set to grab a silver. However, a small error in the middle of the rounds changed his fate, and he fell to fourth position.

India has faced heartbreak with fourth-place finishes at the Olympics before. Here’s a look at Indian athletes who just missed out on medals.

Joydeep Karmakar – London 2012 Olympics

In shooting, This is not the first time India has experienced a heartbreak. In 2012, after qualifying for the final round in 7th place at the London Olympics, Indian shooter Joydeep Karmakar delivered a stellar performance in the men’s 50m rifle-prone event, moving up the rankings. Despite his impressive efforts, his final score of 699.1 was not enough to surpass Slovenia’s Rajmond Debevec, who finished third with a score of 701.0.

Abhinav Bindra, Rio 2016 Olympics

India’s gold medalist from the 2008 Olympics, Abhinav Bindra, reached the final of the men’s 10m air rifle event at the Rio 2016 Olympics but could not replicate his gold-medal performance. He ended up in fourth place after a shoot-off, scoring 10 while his rival, Serhiy Kulish of Ukraine, scored 10.5.

Milkha Singh, Rome 1960

Legendary sprinter Milkha Singh, competing in his second Olympics, was aiming for a medal. After advancing through the heats and semifinals, Milkha finished fourth in the men’s 400m sprint, just 0.1 seconds behind the bronze medalist.

PT Usha, Los Angeles 1984

Milkha Singh’s fourth-place finish was a significant disappointment for India. Years later, P.T. Usha also came close to a medal. She narrowly missed out on a bronze in the women’s 400m hurdles, falling short by just one-hundredth of a second.

Dipa Karmakar, Rio 2016 Olympics

Dipa Karmakar, the first Indian female gymnast to compete in the Olympics, missed out on a medal at Rio 2016. She performed the Produnova vault, scoring 15.266 on her second attempt. Initially in second place, she finished fourth, narrowly missing a medal by just 0.150 points behind Switzerland’s Giulia Steingruber.

Aditi Ashok, Tokyo 2021 Olympics

At the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, golfer Aditi Ashok came very close to winning a medal in the women’s individual stroke play event. She finished fourth, just one shot behind Japan’s Mone Inami and Lydia Ko from New Zealand. She remained in medal contention until the final moments of the competition. Aditi will be competing again in the Paris 2024 Olympics.