Jul 25 surprise and a few more would be eyeing the perfect closure to their glittering careers as the 117-strong Indian contingent aims for a better-than-before performance in the Olympic Games, starting here on Friday. India returned from Tokyo with seven medals, and it is only natural that a double-digit performance is now desired in Paris. Except for wrestlers, who have waded through a highly controversial build-up, athletes in all disciplines have have had no complaints about their preparations. Whether it was training abroad or getting the best of facilities to sharpen their skills, there was planning in place.

But will the hard work, the strategies and the unbridled support translate into medals?

The Big Picture

It will be a Heculean task to match the Tokyo figures of seven medals, given that except for reigning Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, not many are top contenders in their respective disciplines.

More than half of the 117-member contingent is from three sports — athletics (29 ), shooting (21) and hockey (19). Of these 69 athletes, 40 are debutants.

In other sports too, there are debutants like tennis player N Sriram Balaji and wrestler Reetika Hooda. They are not exactly inexperienced, but largely, India’s campaign will be driven by the athletes, who will be competing on a stage this grand for the first time.

Then there are the seasoned ones who would be expected to raise their game suitably.

Two-time medallist shuttler PV Sindhu, tennis player Rohan Bopanna, legendary table tennis player Sharath Kamal and hockey goalkeeper PR Sreejesh are certainly playing their last Olympics.

The hockey team has endured patchy form in the build-up to the Games, the boxers and wrestlers are lacking in real competition time. The shooters too have notched up mixed results heading into the Olympics.

The track and field athletes, especially Avinash Sable, have done well of late, but compared to their global rivals, their performances don’t seem enough to put them in the bracket of medal hopefuls.

For instance, steeplechaser Sable has been consistently bettering his own national record. His best stands at 8:09.94 but there are seven international runners who have achieved better timing than that in the run-up to the Games.

Given this, Even making the finals will be considered a huge achievement.

Best Chance

India’s hopes for podium finishes largely hinge on Neeraj, despite concerns around his adductor niggle, and the in-form badminton duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy.

The coveted 90m mark has eluded Neeraj from Tokyo to Paris but the ace javelin thrower seems to be doing just enough, and most importantly, consistently, to land global titles.

On big competition days, Neeraj has fared better than his other fancied rivals and if he is fit, the javelin thrower from Panipat will have a chance to become only the third athlete in India’s sports history to win back-to-back Olympic medals.

Only Sindhu (2016 Rio and 2012 Tokyo) and wrestler Sushil Kumar (2008 Beijing, 2012 London) have managed to win two consecutive medals.

Rankireddy and Chirag have grown into one of India’s most formidable men’s doubles teams and they are being seen as certain medal winners.

Talking about Sindhu, she is not in the best of form and has also got a tough draw but if she can come through the initial rounds, the vast experience could help her make the medal round.

Hockey

The men’s hockey team has been inconsistent. It lost all five games in Australia recently after a mixed run in the Pro League. It was a far cry from the Asian Games in Hangzhou where the team emerged champion.

Penalty Corner conversion and maintaining the tempo throughout a match remain a concern.

And if that’s not enough, the Indian team has been clubbed with heavyweights Australia, Belgium, Argentina, New Zealand and Ireland. There is no room for error if the team has to make the top-four from this pool.

Shooting

It’s been a quiet build-up for the 21-member shooting contingent, the biggest ever, compared to London and Tokyo where stars such as Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary had raised medal hopes with their exceptional performances in the run-up to the Games.

Even Divyansh Panwar and Elavenil Valarivan were hailed as future superstars but all of them have flattered to deceive.

There is hardly any spotlight on shooters but still Sift Kaur Samra (50m three position) , Sandeep Singh (10m air rifle) and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (men’s 50 m rifle) have it in them to end the 12-year wait for a medal.

Gagan Narang, who is now India’s Chef de Mission, was the last Indian shooter to climb the podium when he won the 10m air rifle bronze in the 2012 London Games.

Wrestling

The sport has delivered a medal for India in the last four editions. The hopes of winning four to five medals were raised for the Paris Games but the protest against the Wrestling Federation of India brought the sport to a standstill.

There was no national camp, and no competition for a long time. The qualified wrestlers have trained on their own at the centres of their choice — both in India and abroad.

Fitness status of many is not known, but going into the Games, Anshu Malik, Antim Panghal and Aman Sehrawat are considered India’s best bets. Reetika Hooda, the U-23 world champion, will be a dark horse.

Others

The archers and TT players have qualified for the Games on the basis of their rankings. While it is a huge achievement for TT players, the same can’t be said about the archers.

They have promised a lot in the past too but have not been able to deliver. The recent episode of their coach being denied the Games accreditation means the campaign has started on a negative note.

Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, the Tokyo Games silver-medallist, has struggled with injury and form of late and is perhaps not in the best frame of mind. There are question marks if she will be able to repeat her success.

Experienced boxer Nikhat Zareen and Nishant Dev will be watched keenly as their latest results have been encouraging. So far, India have won 35 medals at the Olympics with shooter Abhinav Bindra (2008) and Neeraj Chopra (2021) being the only two individual gold medal winners.

It’s time to turn aspirations into achievements. Let the Games begin.

India on Thursday named a 28-member athletics team for the upcoming Paris Olympics, headlined by superstar javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, but one more athlete — long jumper Jeswin Aldrin — is expected to be included by the national federation later. The 26-year-old Tokyo Games gold medallist and reigning world champion in javelin throw has decided to skip the last Diamond League this weekend in Paris in order to prepare for the quadrennial extravaganza as almost all the selected names are on expected lines.

The squad comprises 17 men and 11 women athletes with some of the other prominent names being Asian Games champions Avinash Sable, Tajinderpal Singh Toor along with sprint hurdler Jyothi Yarraji, to name a few.

Top Indian long jumper Jeswin Aldrin is expected to be added to the team later after the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) formally notifies the world governing body about the pulling out of M Sreeshankar, who had breached the automatic qualifying mark but later ruled out of the Olympics due to an injury.

Aldrin is just one spot outside the qualification bracket as he is at 33rd place in the World Athletics (WA) ranking quota list. There will be 32 athletes competing in the men’s long jump event in the Paris Olympics.

All the countries must inform WA by Thursday (July 4) midnight regarding any pullout of their athletes. During the period from July 4-6, WA will reallocate the declined quota places to the next best-ranked athlete in the same event. It will then publish the final list on July 7.

“It was decided in the selection committee meeting today that whoever gets quota place (through world ranking) later on will be added in the team,” Indian athletics chief coach Radhakrishnan Nair told PTI.

“So, once we inform WA that Sreeshankar is not participating, Aldrin will get the quota place and he should be added in the team,” he added.

Jyothi Yarraji will become the first Indian 100m hurdler to compete in the Olympics while shot putter Abha Khatua also made a surprise cut through world rankings.

High jumper Sarvesh Anil Kushare, who won gold at the National Inter-State Championships with an effort of 2.25m, also made it to the team.

Javelin thrower DP Manu, who made the cut, was expectedly not named in the team after his dope flunk last week. Olympic champion Chopra and Kishore Jena had made direct qualification.

Four Indian male 20km race walkers had breached the qualifying mark of 1 hour 20 minute and 10 seconds but Ram Baboo has been dropped for “lack of consistency” as a country can name only three athletes in an event.

Baboo was not also considered for the marathon race walk mixed relay and Suraj Panwar, who also made the grade through world ranking, was named instead to pair with Priyanka Goswami, the lone Indian in the women’s 20km event.

He was sixth at the National Race Walk Championships in January and did not finish at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Antalya in April.

The 4x400m men’s relay team, featuring Muhammed Anas, Muhammed Ajmal, Amoj Jacob and Rajesh Ramesh, which had created quite a stir by leaving behind the USA team in one of the heats at the last World Championships, will also be followed with keen interest.

Ramesh has not run any individual 400m race this season and he pulled out of the race injured during the men’s 4x400m relay event at the World Relays Championships in Bahamas in May.

But, the AFI had said ahead of the National Inter-State Championships that his recovery has been satisfactory and he should be alright before the Olympics.

In the women’s 4x400m relay, Vithya Ramraj, MR Poovamma and Prachi got the nod on the basis of the trial held on the final day of the National Inter-State Championships. Ramraj, Poovamma and Prachi had finished first, second and third in the trial. Kiran Pahal, Jyothika Sri Dandi and Subha Venkatesan had more or less picked themselves in the team.

The track and field competition will be conducted at the Stade de France between August 1 to August 11.

The Team: Men: Avinash Sable (3,000m steeplechase), Neeraj Chopra, Kishore Kumar Jena (javelin throw), Tajinderpal Singh Toor (shot put), Praveen Chithravel, Abulla Aboobacker (triple jump), Akshdeep Singh, Vikash Singh, Paramjeet Singh Bisht (20km race walk), Muhammed Anas, Muhammed Ajmal, Amoj Jacob, Santhosh Tamilarasan, Rajesh Ramesh (4x400m relay), Mijo Chacko Kurian (4x400m relay), Suraj Panwar (race walk mixed marathon), Sarvesh Anil Kushare (High Jump).

Women: Kiran Pahal (400m), Parul Chaudhary (3,000m steeplechase and 5,000m), Jyothi Yarraji (100m hurdles), Annu Rani (javelin throw), Abha Khatua (shot put), Jyothika Sri Dandi, Subha Venkatesan, Vithya Ramraj, Poovamma MR (4x400m relay), Prachi (4x400m), Priyanka Goswami (20km race walk/race walk mixed marathon).

Following a second-place finish at Doha Diamond League and a triumphant return to national competition with a Federation Cup gold, Indian Olympic and World Championships gold medalist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will be playing his third competition of the season, the Ostrava Golden Spike athletics meet to be held on May 28 at Czechia. This upcoming meet, which is also a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold label event, is the 63rd edition of the Ostrava Golden Spike competition.

On the road to the Paris Olympics 2024, happening from July 26 to August 11 this year, Neeraj kickstarted his season on May 11 with a second-place finish in the Doha Diamond League, with the best throw of 88.36 m, falling just 2 centimetres short of the winner and Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Jakub Vadlejch.

The Federation Cup in Bhubaneswar marked his first-ever national-level appearance since the Tokyo Olympics gold back in 2021 and he did not disappoint. Battling fatigue due to a lack of recovery time and a lot of travel, Neeraj could throw just 82.27 m but it was enough to secure a top-place finish and a gold medal, overcoming DP Manu’s initial lead of an 82.06 m throw, as per Olympics.com.

At Ostrava, the line-up for the men’s javelin throw would be a tough one, including the home favourite Vadlejch and Grenada’s Anderson Peters, a former World Champion. Peters had also finished behind Vadlejch and Neeraj in the Doha Diamond League.

Neeraj was expected to feature in the Ostrava Golden Spike meet last year, but had to withdraw due to a muscle injury. The title was won by Vadlejch with the best throw of 81.93 m.

At Ostrava, Neeraj Chopra will be in a tough men’s javelin throw field which also comprises home favourite Vadlejch and Grenada’s Anderson Peters, a former world champion, in the mix. Peters finished third at Doha behind Vadlejch and Neeraj.

Besides Neeraj, Vadlejch and Peters, a lot of other global stars will be in action at the meet in Czechia, which also includes Italy’s Marcell Jacobs, the current 100m men’s Olympic champion, Gianmarco Tamberi, the reigning Olympic co-champion in men’s high jump and Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis, a world record holder and a Tokyo Olympics gold medalist.

Following the Ostrava meet, Neeraj is expected to stay in Europe as he is listed to play in the Paavo Nurmi Games to be held on June 18 at Turku, Finland. The event is the top track and field competition in Finland being held since 1957. The event is labelled as ‘Continental Tour Gold’ and is a top-tier World Athletics event.

Back in 2022, Neeraj secured a silver medal at Paavo Nurmi games with his throw of 89.30-metre, his personal best back then. Neeraj later outdid himself and registered his personal best throw of 89.94 m during the Stockholm leg of Diamond League 2022, which is also a national-level record, intact to this day.

File photo of Neeraj Chopra.© AFP