The 33rd edition of the summer Olympics kicked off last Friday in a glittering ceremony in Paris - a city renowned for its art, taste and sophistication. The 17-day long sports spectacle, christened as Paris 2024, which concludes on August 11, will see the best performers in the world showcase their skills in the 329 events in 32 sports where competitions are scheduled to take place. An estimated 10,700-odd athletes from 206 nations will descend on Paris to take part in this grand festival. With the conduct of this Olympics, the Games will revert back to the four-year cycle in which it used to be held prior to the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the Tokyo Olympics, originally scheduled for 2020 to be postponed to 2021.
Paris is no stranger to hosting Olympics, having done this on two occasions in the past - in 1900 and 1924. The return of the Games to the country, one of whose sons - Pierre de Coubertin - is recognised as the “Father of Modern Olympics” is by itself cause for celebration in France. In addition to Paris, events are scheduled to be held in 16 other venues spread over France and in one city in Tahiti in French Polynesia. Since this Games feature almost all the sporting events played across the world, with the possible exception of cricket, one can be reasonably certain that the attention of sports lovers will be focused on Paris for the next fortnight.
Though we hear high-sounding platitudes about keeping sports away from politics, it is seldom the case as the two invariably get mixed up. This time too, the spectre of politics has cast its shadow over the Games. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to suspend the national committees of Russia and Belarus, which effectively amounted to preventing these countries from taking part in Paris 2024. However, they have made provision for athletes to take part in the games as “Athletes Individuels Neutres - Individual Neutral Athletes - (AIN)”, if they did not actively “support” the war. But they will not be allowed to take part in the opening and closing ceremonies under the banner of their home counties.
Though the Olympics seeks to uphold the principles of peace, friendship and sportsman spirit, the Games have been used by various administrations to showcase their prowess, on and off the field, in a no holds barred manner. Adolf Hitler wanted to use the 1936 Berlin Olympics to demonstrate to the world the infallibility of his theory of Aryan supremacy. He was successful in this regard as Germany returned with the highest tally of medals in this Games. During the “Cold War years”, that stretched from end of World War II till the disintegration of the Soviet Union, USA and the USSR vied for the top position, with East Germany coming in third position. In the years since 2000, Peoples Republic of China has emerged as a super power in the field of sports as well, topping the table in 2008 and coming second at London in 2012 and Tokyo in 2021.
For a long period, Olympics was a period of national shame for India as we had to go through the ignominy of not winning even a single medal on many occasions. From the time field hockey was admitted as an event in 1928, India had a stranglehold on this item, winning the gold medal till 1960, when Pakistan defeated them
in the final. Though India came back strongly to win the gold medal in 1964, they dropped down to third position in 1968 and 1972. But worse was to follow during the years since as western countries devised a new power packed hit-and-run style which was more suited for the artificial grass where the game came to be increasingly played. India regained the hockey gold at Moscow in 1980, when the western block of countries led by the US boycotted the Olympics protesting against the invasion of Afghanistan by the USSR. But it was back to miserable times after that till the Atlanta Olympics of 1996, when Leander Paes brought a smile on the face of the Indians by winning a bronze medal in tennis.
The new millennium has been a more lucky one for India as we never had to return from any edition of the Games with an empty plate. Karnam Malleswari won the bronze medal in weightlifting in 2000, while shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won the silver in 2004. Abhinav Bindra became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal in Olympics when he achieved the top position at Beijing in 2008 in men's 10m pistol. Neeraj Chopra won the gold medal in javelin throw at Tokyo in 2021, becoming the first from the country to win a medal in Athletics in Olympics. During the period since 2000, India have won medals in badminton, boxing, wrestling and hockey, besides shooting, weightlifting and athletics.
Hence when the 117-strong Indian contingent takes the field at Paris, there is optimism in the air that we may improve on our performance at Tokyo, where we won seven medals, including one gold. Chopra continues to be the biggest hope for a gold medal this time also as he has shown fine form to win almost all the important titles (World Athletics championship, Asian Games and Diamond League) in the world in the three years since Tokyo Olympics. Kishore Jena, who finished behind Neeraj at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, has also qualified to take part in the event at Paris. Though it is a long shot one must admit to nursing the fond hope that more than one Indian stands on the victory podium in javelin throw.
Nikhat Zareen is another hope for gold medal in women’s boxing in the 50kg category. She won the title in two World Championships and Paris will be her first exposure to Olympics. The string of successes that she enjoyed in the run up to the Games makes her a strong contender for winning this event. Lovlina Borgohain, who won a bronze at Tokyo in boxing, will be looking to improve her performance at Paris in the 75kg category. The badminton doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty has also been in fine fettle. They are currently ranked No. 1 in the world in this event, which makes them the frontrunners for a gold at Paris. Though she has not been in peak form of late, P V Sindhu will also be looking to emulate her successes at Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021, where she won a silver and bronze medal respectively.
Shooting is another event where Indians fancy their chances. Manu Bhaker has opened India's account by winning a bronze in women's 10m air pistol. Sift Kaur Samra, who had set a new world record in 50m pistol while winning the gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games, is another medal prospect. Mirabai Chanu in weightlifting (49kg category) and the women wrestlers are also capable of podium finishes in their respective items.
Another medal hope is the men’s hockey side who surprised the followers by winning a bronze medal at Tokyo. They had followed this up with a gold in Hangzhou Asian Games. Though they are placed in a difficult pool and chances of finishing at the pole position are not very high, their progress will be followed with great interest back home where there exists plenty of nostalgia for this sport in Olympics. One hopes that the side fulfils the dreams of the fans back home by winning a gold medal, which, if it happens, will lead to the renaissance for this sport in the country.
While saluting the heroes who have done the country proud by winning medals in the Olympics in the past, we must also doff our hats to Milkha Singh and P T Usha, who had come close to podium finishes in their respective items. Milkha was widely expected to win a medal in 400 metres at Rome in 1960, but a serious miscalculation during the race saw him finish at the fourth position. Usha, on the other hand, was coaxed by her coach to try her hand at 400 metres hurdles only a few months before the Los Angeles Olympics of 1984 but she surprised everyone by reaching the final with ease. In the final, she was edged out by one hundredth of a second from finishing in the third position. Both these great athletes had toiled during times when coaching and other facilities were very poor and reached the top only by dint of sheer hard work and determination. They may not have won a medal in Olympics but they certainly conquered the hearts of sports lovers in India by their achievements.
Let us wish our contingent good luck and hope that they return from Paris with a bagful of medals. Best wishes to all the athletes and sportspersons for a successful run at Paris 2024.
(The author is a former international cricket umpire and a retired bureaucrat)
