Nikhat to Satwik-Chirag: Top 10 Medal hopefuls for India in Olympics 2024

Though India's contingent is not the biggest ever at the Paris Olympics 2024, there are chances that the country's medal haul at the world's biggest sporting event might swell to 10 this time around.

A total of 117 athletes from India will be in action at the Paris Olympics 2024, starting July 26. India won seven medals, including the first-ever individual Gold in the Track and Field event.

Though India's contingent is not the biggest ever, there are chances that the country's medal haul at the world's biggest sporting event might swell to 10 this time around.

While PV Sindhu entered the Olympics 2024 as the first-ever Indian athlete to win two individual medals, the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty would aim to win India's first-ever medal in Badminton's men's doubles event.

In Boxing, two-time World Champion Nikhat Zareen will be aiming for glory in her maiden Olympic Games. Meanwhile, pugilist Lovlina Borgohain will look to change the colour of her medal from the Tokyo Games.

Following a Bronze medal in Tokyo, the Indian men's hockey team will also aim to put up yet another superior show in Paris. India's largest-ever shooting contingent will be looking to shed the disappointment of the Tokyo Games 2021.

As 117 athletes aim to bring glory to the country, Business Standard takes a look at 10 medal hopefuls for India:

Indian Men's Hockey Team
 

• Under the leadership of penalty-corner specialist Harmanpreet Singh and coach Craig Fulton, the Indian hockey team is a top contender to win a medal at the Olympics 2024.
• The Indian team won a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics, ending their four-decade-long medal-less run at the world's biggest sporting event. Interestingly, most of the players from that bronze medal-winning team are part of the current squad.
• Indian hockey has a great legacy in the Olympics, as despite having a poor run since the boycott-hit 1980 Moscow Olympics, India still holds the record for winning the maximum number of gold medals in the multi-nation event.
• Indian men's hockey team won eight gold medals, which is higher than any other nation's hockey team.

File photo: Indian hockey team

How is the India men's hockey team performing at the global stage leading into the Paris Games?

• The Indian hockey team finished seventh at the FIH Pro League and wasn't able to qualify for the knockout stages of the 2023 World Cup held at home.
• Apart from this, the team has been placed in a tough pool with strong teams like Australia, Argentina, Belgium, and New Zealand.
• However, a heavy dose of match practice in the past three years and training camps in Switzerland and SAI Bengaluru ahead of the Paris Olympics makes the team a strong contender for a medal at the event.

Mirabai Chanu. Photo: X

Mirabai Chanu

• The weightlifter became a household name after she won a silver in the 49 kg category at the Tokyo Olympics. However, the Manipuri athlete has been struggling with hip and thigh issues for most of the last year.
• The injury forced her to withdraw midway from the 2022 Asian Games. Her training stint at a French town ahead of the Paris Olympics will play a vital role in her recovery and getting acclimated to the weather.
• Chanu is considered one of India's all-time greatest women weightlifters, having won the World Championships and multiple Commonwealth Games medals.

Bhubaneswar: Javelin throwers Neeraj Chopra before the start of the Mens Javelin Throw event of the 27th National Federation Senior Athletics Competition, in Bhubaneswar, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Photo: PTI)

Neeraj Chopra
Discipline: Men's Javelin Throw
 

• Perhaps the most popular athlete in the current Indian contingent at the Paris Olympics 2024, Neeraj Chopra became a household name in the previous Olympics when he won a gold medal in the javelin throw competition. It was a historic day for India as it was the first-ever Olympic medal for the country in track & field.
• Apart from being an Olympic gold medallist, Chopra is also a title winner at the World Athletics Championships, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Championships, and Diamond League.

How is Neeraj Chopra gearing up for the Paris Olympics?

• The 26-year-old athlete, who reportedly gives more importance to fitness than competition, had good training stints in Germany and Turkey ahead of the Paris Olympics.
• The Patiala boy is expected to win a gold medal this time as well, and anything short of it will be considered unsatisfactory. This year, Chopra secured gold at the Paavo Nurmi Games, came second at the Doha Diamond League, and won the Federation Cup at home.
• However, Chopra is yet to breach the 90-metre mark, which some of his compatriots like Germany's Johannes Vetter and Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem have done.

Bengaluru: Badminton player PV Sindhu during the launch of Bridgestone Dueler All Terrain A/T002 tyre, in Bengaluru, Sunday, May 5, 2024. (Photo: PTI)

PV Sindhu
Sport: Badminton
Discipline: Women's singles

• Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu registered her name in history books after winning Bronze in the Tokyo Olympics in the women's singles event. After winning a silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics, Sindhu clinched a bronze in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
• It will be interesting to see how she will fare this time, especially against her Chinese rivals. The shuttler has got an easy group where she faces Estonia’s Kristin Kuuba and Maldives’ Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq. However, of late, she has struggled with poor form as she had to face early exits in this year's Indonesia Open and Singapore Open.

Nikhat Zareen
Sports:  Boxing
Discipline: 50-kg Category

• India's latest boxing sensation, Nikhat Zareen, is expected to win a medal in the women's 50-kg category. A two-time world champion, Zareen has only lost two bouts since she rose to fame in 2022.
• However, the Telangana athlete suffered an unexpected semi-final loss to Thailand’s Raksat Chuthamat in the 2022 Asian Games. Notably, Zareen has won several accolades in her career, but it was her gold medal win in the 2022 Commonwealth Games that helped her garner national attention.

Manu Bhaker
Sports: Shooting
 

• Popular female shooting star Manu Bhaker has a real chance of winning not just a single medal but multiple ones as the 22-year-old athlete is going to represent India in three separate events, namely women's 25m air pistol, women's 10m air pistol, and 10m air pistol mixed team at the Olympics 2024.
• Notably, the Haryana-born athlete was the most successful shooter at the Olympic Selection Trials (OST) Rifle/Pistol held in Bhopal in May. Bhaker has a real chance this time as former Indian shooter Jaspal Rana is back as her coach.
• Notably, Rana and Bhaker have had a troubled relationship and decided to part ways until last year when they reunited. Interestingly, Bhaker has won medals at several international tournaments, including World Championships, ISSF World Cup, Youth Olympic Games, and Commonwealth Games.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty

Sports: Badminton
Discipline: Men's doubles

• The men's doubles pair of Satwik-Chirag has proven their mettle in the last two years by winning several titles, including an Asian Games Gold Medal, Commonwealth Games Gold, and the French Open Super 750 title in 2022. Apart from being instrumental in India's historic Thomas Cup win in May 2022, the duo continued their form by winning the doubles title at the Swiss Open 2023.
• However, despite losing the Malaysia Open and Indian Open finals earlier this year, Satwik-Chirag won the French Open and Thailand Open.
• Until recently, the pair was ranked World No. 1 in men's doubles before losing it to the Chinese duo of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang. Notably, their coach and former Olympic medallist, Mathias Boe, believes that credit should also go to other Indian men's pairs like Arjun-Dhruv and Manu-Sumeeth for proving to be competent practice partners for Satwik-Chirag.

Vinesh Phogat

Sports: Wrestling

• A member of the famous Phogat family, Vinesh Phogat will aim to end her career on a high after being involved in wrestlers' protest against the president of her own federation, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). She will be looking to shed the disappointment of Rio and Tokyo Games.
• She was eliminated in the quarterfinal stage of the last two Olympics, Vinesh will look to make amends when she competes in the women's 50-kg category in Paris. Vinesh has been in the news in the last 1.5 years as she was part of a group that led protests against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Singh over "sexual harassment" charges. Notably, she is the only Indian female wrestler to win a gold medal in both the Commonwealth and Asian Games after the disappointment of Tokyo Olympics 2021.

Lovlina Borgohain
Sports: Boxing
 

• The Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist has shifted to the 75-kg category after the 69-kg category in women's boxing was scrapped in the Paris Olympics. Last year, the Assamese won World Championships gold in the 75-kg event. Apart from that, Borgohain also won a silver at the Grand Prix Usti nad Labem in the Czech Republic last month.
• Borgohain has won medals at the World Championships and Asian Games, but it was the Tokyo Olympics that turned out to be a watershed moment in her career as she defeated former world champion Chen Nien-chin and secured a bronze medal. Borgohain has a real chance of accomplishing a historic feat in the upcoming Olympics as experts believe that the boxer can overcome Mary Kom and Vijender Singh's tally of one Olympic medal each and become India's first boxer to have two Olympic medals to her name.

Aman Sehrawat
Sport: Wrestling
 

• The 20-year-old is the only male wrestler from India to qualify for the Paris Olympics and therefore has much riding on his shoulders.
• The 57-kg category's freestyle wrestler won a bronze at the 2022 Asian Games and a gold at the 2023 Asian Championships. In an interview with a newspaper, Sehrawat revealed that a phone call from two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar gave him better clarity over when to attack or defend during a bout.
• However, it is expected that the Haryana-born wrestler might have to face three-time World Championships bronze medallist, Armenia's Arsen Harutyunyan, in the quarter-final, and winning a medal won't be easy for India's lone male wrestler at the Paris Olympics.