The curtains have come down and another Olympic cycle comes to an end. From an Indian perspective, the two-week bash in Paris will be filled with some regret, a chance at history squandered while a few rose above expectations to carve out glory. In a look, this daily takes you through how the athletes involved in the Olympics performed.
It's the only sport where India have won at least one Olympic medal since 2008. But the build-up was far from ideal with top wrestlers staging protests against former Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for most of the previous year. That only a single male qualified for the Games put a big spanner in the works.
While women made history as five of them made the cut, it was always going to be difficult at the grandest stage with no national camp, participation in international meets and exposure trips.
It all started on a sad note as Nisha Dahiya (68kg) sustained a shoulder injury. Vinesh Phogat (50kg), the public face of the protest, turned out to be a ray of hope as she demolished the field to storm into the final. The ecstasy turned into despair as she was disqualified for being 100 grams overweight only a few hours later. She may still finish with silver if the Court of Arbitration for Sports rules in her favour on Tuesday.
When it appeared the winning streak may finally end, Aman Sehrawat (57kg) bagged bronze to keep the record intact. But that medal was more because of the wrestler than the system working behind the athletes.
Injuries plagued star lifter Mirabai Chanu since she won the historic silver at the Tokyo Games in 2021. Mirabai falling flat on her back on the platform while lifting weights during the Asian Games last year was a dreaded sight for sports connoisseurs back home. However, there was hope as well as the Manipur athlete had made comebacks from injuries in the past. She was clearly not in her element when the competition began in Paris but stayed in medal contention till the third and last attempt of the clean and jerk event. She, however, could not lift 114kg.
Balraj Panwar was the lone entry in the rowing competition and expecting him to finish on the podium was too much to ask for. He made it to the single sculls quarterfinal through repechage after finishing fourth in the heat, the realistic goal for the army rower was to make the semifinals of the main race. It didn't happen as Panwar finished 23rd among 33 rowers on his Olympic debut.
Judo
Up against four-time Olympic medallist Idalys Ortiz of Cuba in the opening round, Tulika Maan had little chance in the women's +78kg. The defeat in the round of 32 wasn't a surprise.
Equestrian
Anush Agarwalla scripted history by becoming the first Indian equestrian to ride in a dressage event at the Olympics but failed to make the medal round.
Badminton
Apart from Neeraj Chopra, the most anticipated medal contenders were Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. The duo, a big part of the Thomas Cup triumph in 2022, was expected to seriously challenge for the medals. However, it was not to be. They went down in the quarterfinals to the Malaysian duo of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik.
Meanwhile, PV Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, was another who expected to be in medal contention even if form hadn't been her friend. When the stakes are high, Sindhu tends to rise to the occasion. But she too lost to He Bingjiao in the round of 16.
Youth Olympic medallist, Lakshya Sen, an outsider to even qualify earlier this year, surprised a lot. He got out of a difficult group before giving himself two shots at a medal. However, from a winning position, he squandered both shots. Considering he has age on his side, like Victor Axelsen said, Sen could possibly be a gold medal prospect come LA 2028.
There weren't many other wins as the sport returned with zero medals next to its name for the first time since 2012. It wasn't a surprise when Prakash Padukone expressed his frustration in a curt but fair press conference.
Neeraj Chopra was India's biggest hope and the most assured contender for a medal. Chopra, as expected, did not disappoint. The Tokyo gold medallist came second behind a freak throw from Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem in men's javelin, reiterating his consistency as one of the best in the world. Others, meanwhile, did not impress.
Avinash Sable qualified for the final and came eleventh. Jyothi Yarraji came fourth in the repechage. The rest — Kiran Pahal, men's and women's relay teams, Sarvesh Kushare, Tajinderpal Singh Toor, Kishore Kumar Jena, Annu Rani, Jeswin Aldrin, Praveen Chithravel and others — faltered.
Perhaps the biggest upset. A two-time and reigning world Champion, Nikhat Zareen, went down in the round of 16. Nikhat had been the world-dominating boxer for India for two years now, and was hoping to become the first Indian woman to win Olympic gold. But, a loss to China's Wu Yu meant the dream diminished.
That she got one of the toughest draws, thanks to the fight between the International Olympic Committee and the now-banned International Boxing Federation, didn't help either.
But that excuse doesn't wash for the sport in general. Quite a few boxers couldn't even create a flutter as they hardly made a dent. Nishant Dev might have a few regrets about how his loss was refereed but the over-riding sentiment was simple — this Olympics was a unanimous setback.
Off the ring, Boxing Federation of India had its issues as well.
Sailing
There were not many expectations from sailors Vishnu Saravanan and Nethra Kumanan. Vishnu finished 18th in the men's dinghy event while Nethra finished 21st in the women's dinghy event.
India only fielded two swimmers via Universality Places. While Srihari Natraj was representing India for the second time after the Tokyo Games, Dhinidhi Desinghu was India's youngest Olympian at 14. The duo failed to make it to the next round.
Before the Paris Olympics even began, one of the biggest controversies regarding the Indian contingent came up when the squad opted to go without the Korean coach Baek Woong Ki. The squad finally went with two coaches — Purnima Mahato for the women's side and Sonam Tshering Bhutia for the men's side. Sadly, except for the mixed team event, India's best finish was multiple last eight appearances. One athlete who enhanced his reputation was Dhiraj Bommadevara who fought his way through the second round only to lose to Canada's Eric Peters in a one-arrow shoot-off. That mixed team bronze medal match against the US could have gone either way but the pressure got the better of the Indian duo. Reboot is the need of the hour and it should begin with the association.
After two back-to-back Olympics where India could not win any medal, Paris 2024 was a breath of fresh air as the contingent bagged three medals.
Right from when the event started, Manu Bhaker was looked upon as a shooter who would play a pivotal role in helping India win medals in Paris. And the 22-year-old didn't disappoint. After an emotional time in Tokyo, Bhaker showed mentality and character to win two medals (10m air pistol individual and mixed team event) and finished fourth in the third. Swapnil Kusale's bronze in the men's 50m rifle three positions event came as a surprise.
After last year's blow-out at the World Cup and the predictable change of guard in terms of coaches, this was a much-needed medal. Won with more or less the same players, the bronze will have its pride of place amid all the gold won by this country over the last 100 years. In what's inarguably the sport's greatest field — any of the final eight could have medalled and it wouldn't have been a surprise — ever assembled, the team did well.
While the likes of Sreejesh will walk away into a golden sunset, new, fresher players will continue to grow. Vice-captain Hardik Singh has already become an important member of the squad. Further forward, Abhishek could be one of the first names on the team sheet.
Now, the team is entering into a crunch little phase over the next few years. In the immediate term, the replacement for PR Sreejesh at the back will be ultra important. It will likely go to Krishan Pathak, who has been the understudy over the last two Olympic cycles.
With the Hockey India League coming back at the end of the year, this kind of momentum allows them the opportunity to unearth new stars for the future. When it was around back in the day, a lot of players used that as a platform to develop their skills, learn from some of the best players before coming into the Indian team as well-rounded players. Can this cycle repeat itself?
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Then, you have the World Cup in 2026. Rest assured, Craig Fulton will remain in the hot seat as coach at least till then. For all of India's improvements, it's one event where they have not been able to dent opponents. At the last two World Cups, both held in India, they haven't gone past the quarterfinal stage. That is a challenge the South African and the support staff will relish.
If medals were being handed out for exceeded expectations, Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula will have come back with a few gongs. Given China's stranglehold and the expertise of some of the other countries, a medal in this sport was always going to be high on impossible. Considering that, the performances will warm the hearts of a fair few TT fans.
Both Batra and Akula reached the last 16 stage in the women's singles event, a first for the sport at the Olympic level. Just in terms of results, Batra's take-down of local favourite, Prithika Pavade, in a Round of 32 match will live long in the memory.
Coming into the year, Batra had beaten China's World No. 2, Wang Manyu, for the biggest win of her career. She has carried that good form into the Olympics. She's now gone beyond the 'woman who foxes opponents because of a long-pimpled rubber'. She has added a few weapons and will continue to grow. The same thing applies to Akula. The men's team, however, lacked the same bite (to be fair, they faced China in their first match). A Sharath Kamal, a flagbearer for so long, will no longer be there.
This may sound like an unfair assessment but results don't lie. Out of all the sports, tennis returned with an unflattering number — played two, and lost two. Rohan Bopanna, who went in as one of the world's top 10 players, picked N Sriram Balaji. They did have their moments but lost out in a tight battle. Sumit Nagal, playing on his favourite surface, lost out to a better player over three sets.
After the first two rounds, it seemed like both Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar could be in contention going into the last days. But a series of below-par efforts on the third day cost both of them a chance to be in the conversation. Before them, both Gaganjeet Bhullar and Shubhankar Sharma were nowhere in the picture. Golf, it can be argued, is still an awkward fit at the Olympics.