The Olympic Games Paris 2024 are just 10 days away, and India's elite athletes are in their final leg of preparation. In our final tracker ahead of the Olympics, ESPN takes a look at how the preparations are going for India's top 10 medal prospects:
Neeraj Chopra
The defending Olympic champion hasn't competed since winning the Paavo Nurmi Games last month, as he prioritises fitness over competitions. Like a few athletes on this list, he's currently in training at Saarbrucken, Germany.
Vinesh Phogat
Vinesh won the Grand Prix of Spain last week defeating Mariia Tiumerekova 10-5 in the final. Competing in the unfamiliar 50kg category in which she won the Olympic quota, Vinesh looked comfortable through the tournament. Vinesh will see this as a confidence-boosting performance as she continues her search She now remains in Madrid, where she will be training ahead of the Olympics.
Path to Paris: Vinesh has already won the battle of her life. Now she faces the battle of her career
PV Sindhu
Sindhu, looking for a historic third-straight Olympic medal, is currently training in Saarbrucken, Germany with coach Agus Dwi Santoso and team. She also now has learnt of her draw at the Olympics.
In the group stage, she has a pretty easy (by her standards) start as she's set to face Estonia's Kristin Kuuba (world no 75) and Maldives' Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq (world no 111). Win the group and she will most likely find herself facing China's He Bing Jiao (world no 8). Win that and there's a potential quarterfinal with defending Olympic champion Chen Yu Fei (world no 2) in store.
Path to Paris: Forget form, forget everything... it's time for big-game PV Sindhu
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty
The doubles pair, fondly known as Sat-Chi, haven't competed on the BWF tour since May 28, where they lost in the opening round in the Singapore Open. Despite that ignominious finish and injury concerns ahead of the Olympics, Sat-Chi have been in decent form during the year and remain amongst the favourites in Paris.
After a bit of a wait, they learnt of their Olympic draw on Monday: the third seeds are grouped with Indonesia's reigning All England Champions Fajar Alfian and Mohammad Ardianto (world no 6), Germany's Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel (world no 31) plus France's Lucas Corvee and Ronan Labar (world no. 43). Their path through the knockouts (top two go through) is unclear since the men's doubles matches in the KOs are to be set after another draw.
Path to Paris: After historic 2023, 'hungry' Sat-Chi embrace pressure, master the mind games
Aditi Ashok
Competing in the Amundi Evian Championship (in Haute-Savoie, France), Aditi had her (joint) best finish of the calendar year 2024 with a tied-17th place finish. To add to the positivity, her average score has been improving over the past four tournaments: in three of four since June she has averaged below 70.
Path to Paris: Aditi Ashok has form and experience, can she shake off big-event bogey?
Men's hockey team
After a brief camp in Bengaluru, the men's hockey team went to Switzerland for a team bonding exercise and are currently training in the Netherlands. They will be landing in Paris on the 20th.
In their last bit of competitive action, Craig Fulton's men didn't have a great run in the Europe leg of the Pro League: results that saw them finish seventh, only above Spain and Ireland.
Path to Paris: Indian hockey picks control over chaos in bid for Olympic glory
Nikhat Zareen
Having won her last competition (the Elorda Cup) in May, two-time (and reigning) world champion Nikhat Zareen will go into Paris with her confidence high. She, along with five other boxers are amid a month-long training at the Olympic Centre in Saarbrucken, Germany. She will then travel to Paris on July 22.
Path to Paris: Why Nikhat Zareen wants that Olympic medal - and has a good shot at it
Lovlina Borgohain
One of the boxers in the Saarbrucken camp, Lovlina's last competition was in June, when she won silver at the Grand Prix Usti nad Labem in the Czech Republic.
In the final she lost to Li Qian, one of her major challengers in Paris. Qian had earlier beaten Lovlina in the final of the Asian Games, but the Indian had emerged victor when the two met in the last World Championships semifinal.
Path to Paris: The spotlight, and Olympic history, beckon Lovlina Borgohain
Sift Kaur Samra
Sift Kaur Samra along with the rest of India's rifle team left from Delhi on Monday. Most recently seen in action at the Munich World Cup, she won bronze in her 50m rifle 3 positions event, missing silver by just 0.1 point to China's Han Jiayu.
India's Rifle team along with their support staff leave from Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi with big smiles!
A new chapter awaits them at #ParisOlympics2024��
Let's send our best wishes to #TeamIndia as they head towards #JeetKiAur���� pic.twitter.com/dcs1c2ojse
- SAI Media (@Media_SAI) July 15, 2024
Mirabai Chanu
Olympic silver medalist Mirabai Chanu is in her final leg of training, and has reached France (Le Ferte-Milon, a northern region) as she acclimatizes to the country. Having struggled with injuries for most of the last year, Mirabai will be looking to continue on her path of full recovery. Her target, she says, is to lift 90kg in snatch and 115kg in the clean and jerk.
Path to Paris: Mirabai Chanu goes back to basics for a shot at second Olympic medal