Paris [France], August 12 (ANI): India’s campaign at the Paris Olympics 2024 ended with six medals, a tally one short of the record total from Tokyo 2020. It is, however, India’s third-best outing at the Summer Games after Tokyo 2020 and London 2012.
Archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, equestrian, golf, hockey, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, wrestling, table tennis and tennis are the 16 sports Indian athletes took part in at the marquee event.
Athletics boasted the largest Indian representation with a 29-member squad. In shooting, India fielded their largest-ever contingent of 21 shooters.
While securing medals was the main objective, Indian athletes also set new records at the Games.
Here’s a complete list of all Indian records at the Paris 2024 Olympics so far.
India’s records at the Paris Olympics:
1. Neeraj Chopra adds to his Tokyo 2020 success
Neeraj Chopra produced his career’s second-best javelin throw at Paris 2024 with an effort of 89.45m but was beaten for gold by Arshad Nadeem, who achieved a new Olympic record of 92.97m.
Still, winning an Olympic silver medal was no small feat, considering it was only India’s second medal in athletics at the Summer Games – both won by Neeraj.
Chopra became the fifth two-time Olympic medallist from India after adding a silver to his Tokyo 2020 gold medal. Norman Pritchard, Sushil Kumar, PV Sindhu and Manu Bhaker are the other two-time Olympic medallists from India.
2. Manu Bhaker becomes first Indian woman to win shooting medal at Olympics
Manu Bhaker won the bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol event at Paris 2024 on July 28 and created history by becoming the first Indian woman to win an Olympic shooting medal.
A day before, Manu Bhaker stormed into the final of the women’s 10m air pistol, becoming the first Indian woman since Athens 2004 to qualify for the Olympic finals in shooting.
3. Manu Bhaker-Sarabjot Singh win India’s first shooting team medal at Olympics
Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh became the first Indian shooting pair to win an Olympic medal in shooting at Paris 2024. Overall, it was India’s sixth Olympic medal in shooting.
The Indian shooting pair defeated the Republic of Korea’s Oh Ye Jin and Wonho Lee 16-10 in the bronze medal match. Oh Ye Jin had won the gold medal in the women’s 10m air pistol event a couple of days before the match.
Manu Bhaker becomes first athlete from independent India to win two medals at one Games
A medal in the individual 10m air pistol event and the 10m air pistol mixed team made Manu Bhaker the first athlete of independent India to win two medals in one edition of the Olympics.
Norman Pritchard, with silvers in the men’s 200m and men’s 200m hurdles at Paris 1900, was the first athlete to win two medals at one Olympics for India.
4. India’s best medals tally in one sport at the Olympics
Swapnil Kusale won the bronze medal in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions on August 1, taking India’s medals tally in shooting at Paris 2024 to three. India had never won three medals in one sport before at any edition of the Games. The previous best was two in shooting at the London 2012 Olympics. This was also India’s first-ever Olympic shooting medal in the 50m rifle 3 positions.
5. India win back-back Olympic medals in hockey after 52 years
The Indian men’s hockey team came from a goal down to beat Spain 2-1 and win the bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics. India, also the bronze medallists in hockey at Tokyo, bagged back-to-back Olympic medals in hockey for the first time in 52 years, since Munich 1972.
The victory at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium also saw India secure a record-extending 13th medal in hockey at the Olympics.
With 10 goals, Harmanpreet Singh was India’s top-scorer at Paris 2024 while PR Sreejesh made crucial saves throughout the competition before calling it time on his international career with a bronze medal.
India beat Australia in Olympic hockey for first time since Munich 1972
The Indian men’s hockey team, riding on skipper Harmanpreet Singh’s brace, beat Tokyo 2020 silver medallists Australia 3-2 in a group game at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
This was India’s first victory against Australia in hockey at the Olympics since Munich 1972. Since then, the two teams played each other seven times, with India losing five of those games before their victory in Paris. The win also helped India finish second in their pool.
6. India’s best result in archery at the Olympics
Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat finished fourth in the mixed team event to secure India’s best result in archery at the Olympics.
In the bronze medal match against the USA’s Brady Ellison and Casey Kaufhold, Bommadevara and Bhakat lost 6-2 and missed what could have been a historic maiden podium finish.
India arrived in the bronze medal match after losing to South Korea 6-2 in the semi-finals. The Indian mixed team got the better of Spain’s Pablo Gonzalez and Elia Canales 5-3 in the quarters after a 5-1 win over Indonesia in the round of 16. It was the first time Indian archery had even reached the semi-finals of any event at the Games.
7. Lakshya Sen breaks new ground for Indian men in Olympic badminton
Lakshya Sen became the first Indian shuttler to reach the semi-finals in a men’s badminton event at the Olympics. Competing in the men’s singles, he not only topped his group, beating the likes of Jonatan Christie of Indonesia along the way, but bested compatriot HS Prannoy in the round of 16 and then stunned Chou Tien-chen in the quarter-finals.
The Indian shuttler went down to defending champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the semis and then lost to Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia in the bronze medal match.
8. Manika Batra becomes first Indian table tennis player to make pre-quarterfinals, Sreeja Akula follows suit
Manika Batra, seeded 18th in the women’s singles event, became the first Indian table tennis player to progress to the pre-quarterfinals of the Olympic Games at Paris 2024 on July 29.
She started her campaign with a 4-1 win over world No. 103 Anna Hursey of Great Britain in the round of 64. She then advanced to the pre-quarterfinals after upsetting France’s Prithika Pavade in the round of 32.
Manika’s campaign ended after a 4-1 defeat to eighth-seeded Japanese player Miu Hirano in the pre-quarterfinals. At Tokyo 2020, Manika Batra reached the round of 32.
Olympic debutant Sreeja Akula joined Manika in the round of 16 on July 30 with a 4-0 win over Sweden’s Christina Kallberg of Sweden in the round of 64 and a 4-2 win over Singapore’s Zeng Jian in the round of 32. She lost to Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Sun Yingsha of China in the round of 16 on her 26th birthday. (ANI)
