Six Indian firsts at Paris Olympics 2024 ft. Manu Bhaker
The Paris Olympics 2024 was a promising one for India even though the nation secured less number of medals compared to the Tokyo Games. Back in 2021, in Tokyo, India won seven medals, including one gold. But this time, the tally was six, with no gold medal. However, numerous athletes from different sports and disciplines securing a fourth-place finish and narrowly missing out on the podium was a positive sign for India.
The Paris Olympics 2024 will also remain special to the Indian contingent in one more way. There are a lot of "firsts" that were created in this edition, something which the 1.4 bn populated country should (or could) be proud of. Today, we will take a look at six such "firsts".
#1 Manu Bhaker's achievement
Manu Bhaker won two medals at the Paris Games - a bronze in the individual women's 10m air pistol event and a team bronze along with Sarabjot Singh in the mixed team 10m air pistol discipline. By achieving this feat, she became the first Indian athlete post India's independence to win two medals at one edition of the Olympic Games.
#2 Neeraj Chopra's hunt
Neeraj Chopra, who won a historic gold medal on his debut at the Tokyo Games back in 2021, won a silver medal in this edition in the men's javelin throw event. In the process, the 26-year-old became the first track and field athlete post India's independence to win two medals at the Games.
#3 Manika Batra creates history
India has never won any medal in table tennis at the Olympics. Moreover, none of the athletes could ever make it to the round of 16. But in 2024, up stood Manika Batra, who defied all odds to reach the round of 16 of the competition. She became the first Indian paddler to reach this stage of the Olympic Games (table tennis).
#4 Lakshya Sen's heroics
Lakshya Sen was perhaps the standout dark horse for the Indian contingent at the Paris Olympics. He dominated most of his games, registered a strong comeback against Chou Tien-chen, and earned praise from gold-medalist Viktor Axelsen. He could have won a bronze medal but succumbed to a defeat in that game. Nonetheless, he became the first Indian shuttler to qualify for the men's singles semi-finals at the Olympics.
#5 Dhinidhi Desinghu
Dhinidhi Desinghu earned a place in the Paris Olympics courtesy of the university quota. Although she couldn't yield the best of this chance, she will surely do better in the upcoming editions. At 14, she was the youngest athlete in the Indian contingent.
#6 Aman Sehrawat
Aman Sehrawat won India a bronze medal in the men's 57kg freestyle wrestling. Two nights without sleep, continuously having visuals of the game in his mind, he overcame Puerto Rico's Darian Cruz to win the medal. Eventually, he became India's youngest athlete to win a medal in an individual event at the Olympic Games, achieving the feat aged 21 years and 24 days.