Who is Srihari Nataraj? All you need to know about the Indian swimmer who competed at the Paris Olympics 2024
Srihari Nataraj was India's entry for the Summer Olympics 2024 in the 100m backstroke event. The Paris Olympics was his second participation in the big event as he was part of the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Nataraj's journey to represent India began in 2017 when he competed in short-course swimming at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
In 2018, Srihari Nataraj was part of the Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Australia. After the Commonwealth appearance, he was seen competing in the 2018 Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia. Nataraj was also part of the boys' 50-metre backstroke, boys' 100-metre backstroke, and boys' 200-metre backstroke events at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Argentina.
Nataraj's golden era began when he won four gold medals in the South Asian Games in Kathmandu, Nepal. His four gold medals came in 50 m backstroke, 100 m backstroke, 200 m backstroke, and 4x100m medley relay.
He failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics as per the guidelines. Nataraj's qualification has happened based on university quotas. It is worth noting that his personal best of 53.77s in the 100m backstroke set in 2021 remains the national record.
How did Srihari Nataraj perform at the Paris Olympics 2024
The Indian contingent in the Paris Olympics had two swimmers who qualified for the big event. Srihari Nataraj and 14-year-old Dhinidhi Desinghu managed to get the qualification based on the University quota for the Paris Olympics 2024. The duo were the highest-ranked swimmers from the Indian camp.
Nataraj was the highest-ranking swimmer in the World Aquatics Point Table. He had scored 849 points and was in close competition with Aryan Nehra - who was just two points below Nataraj.
Nataraj finished second in his heat at the Paris Olympics 2024 with a timing of 55.01. However, it wasn't enough to secure a place in the finals, as he ranked 33rd overall among 46 swimmers.