Former shooter and acting president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Raja Randhir Singh was elated with the performance of the Indian contingent at the Paris Olympics stating that athletes improved their individual performances despite winning less medals than last Games.
A total of 117 Indian athletes made up the contingent that went on the hunt for medals and sporting immortality at the Paris 2024 Olympics, which was held from July 26 to August 11.
In all, India won six medals - a silver and five bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Manu Bhaker won the first medal for India at the Paris 2024 Olympics. She bagged a bronze and became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic shooting medal. She then created history by becoming the first Indian to win two medals at a single edition of the Olympics after she clinched a mixed team 10m air pistol bronze with Sarabjot Singh.
Swapnil Kusale added a third medal in shooting to make it India's biggest haul in a sport in a single edition of the Olympics.
The Indian men's hockey team matched their Tokyo 2020 success with the bronze in Paris while Neeraj Chopra became the most successful individual Olympian after he claimed a silver medal in the javelin throw.
Later, Aman Sehrawat became India's youngest Olympic medallist when he won bronze in wrestling.
"Our performance at the recent Paris Olympics Games India was better than the previous one. Individual performance was better. India may have not crossed the Tokyo Games tally but their performances have improved a lot," Singh told IANS.
However, India left the Paris 2024 Olympics with more heartbreaks than cheers. India missed out on six potential medals, most by a whisker, with the athletes finishing fourth in their respective events. This included Lakshya Sen, Mirabai Chanu and Manu Bhaker, who could have bagged her third medal at the Games.
Vinesh Phogat's disqualification ahead of a historic final also added to India's woes.
"Many athletes qualified for quarterfinals but we didn't qualify for the medal match. There were a number of fourth place finishes. The men's hockey team won back-to-back medals and Neeraj Chopra our star performer again brought the silver medal for the country. So, yes, our performance was better this time," Singh added.
(With inputs from IANS)
