Three years on from the Tokyo Olympics, a lot has changed in Indian sport. An Indian is now a reigning Olympic and world champion in track and field, there is a full-strength shooting contingent, and there are major names missing out. But most importantly, there is tangible hope of a best-ever medal haul.
As we gear up for Paris 2024, after a shorter three-year Olympic cycle (due to the pandemic-delayed 2020 Games), here's a look at what has changed from Tokyo to Paris for the Indian Olympic contingent:
At Tokyo and in Paris: what has stayed the same?
Medal winners return for more:
Five of the seven Indian medal winners from Tokyo - Neeraj Chopra (javelin throw), Mirabai Chanu (weightlifting), PV Sindhu (badminton), Lovlina Borgohain (boxing) and the men's hockey team - return to the Olympics in the quest to add to their tally.
The encouraging sign for Indian sports fan is that all of them appear capable of doing just that. Neeraj and Lovlina are the reigning world champions in their respective disciplines. Mirabai and Sindhu, former world champions themselves, have struggled with injuries in the lead-up but have the calibre and experience needed to level up. The hockey team have adopted control over chaos in a bid to change the colour of their medal
Look out for more Indians becoming multiple Olympic medallists at Paris.
Redemption seekers:
There are a bunch of top athletes looking to comeback from a tough outing at Tokyo.
Foremost on the list is wrestler Vinesh Phogat who has had to fight both the battle of her life and career in the last year and a half. She co-led the wrestlers protests against alleged sexual harassment by former WFI chief, and is the only one of those three leaders to be competing at Paris 2024. She has fought back from knee surgery that forced her to miss Asian Games, has had to cut down her weight even further to 50kg to secure an Olympic berth, and has done all of this after bravely opening up about her battle with mental health issues and administrative chaos at Tokyo. In Rio, she was injured on the mat, in Tokyo she had to battle an unsupportive system, can she take home glory in Paris?
The Indian shooting contingent, who were one of the biggest misses of Tokyo 2020, has only four shooters from those Games - Manu Bhaker, Elavenil Valarivan, Anjum Moudgil, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar. Of them, the biggest spotlight will be on Manu Bhaker, who had struggled last time with a malfunctioning pistol and an ugly, widely publicised tiff with her coach. She has endured a rollercoaster Olympic cycle as well, gone back to working with Jaspal Rana, and has prevailed in the tough four-stage selection trials to represent India in three disciplines once again. Can she exorcise her Tokyo demons and do what no Indian woman has done before?
Also looking to do what no Indian has before is archer Deepika Kumari, who is playing her fourth Olympics at age 30. It's been a tough Olympic cycle for the former world No 1 who became a mother two years back, couldn't make the cut for the Indian team after the maternity break, stayed away from her child to train, went to South Korea's best archery academy, and has made it to Paris 2024. Will the fourth time be the charm?
Golfer Aditi Ashok, playing her third Olympics at 26, too has a score to settle after an agonising fourth finish at Tokyo 2020 despite being in medal contention for most of the event. She had a similar late slip at the Asian Games last year too when a sure-shot gold became silver. She will want to take that step up in Paris.
Boxer Amit Panghal who was the top seed and faced a shock first-bout exit at Tokyo, has fought the new evaluation system to come back into the Indian team and will look to make the most of his second chance.
For badminton doubles pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, though, it's more revenge than redemption. In Tokyo, they suffered a heartbreaking group-stage exit because of a three-way tie technicality (despite having beaten even the eventual champions).This time the Indians enter the Olympics as one of the favourites, coming off a great season and having won the French Open held at the Olympic venue earlier this year. There have been a few injury setbacks but Sat-Chi are primed to explode on the biggest stage.
What's changed from Tokyo?
The biggest change from Tokyo are the major names missing from action:
Indian women's hockey team
Remember the whole Chak De! India moment from Tokyo when the Indian women's hockey team beat Australia against all odds (but finished a heartbreaking fourth)?
There will be none of that in Paris as the team failed to reach Paris 2024, despite multiple chances including an Olympic qualifier at home. It was a contentious Olympic cycle where Janneke Schopman (assistant coach at Tokyo) took over, dropped captain Rani Rampal, changed the team's style of play into a more energetic one, but ultimately couldn't make it count.
Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya
A big miss will be medal winning wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya. Both lost at the national stage itself, at the selection trials for Olympic qualifiers.
Bajrang, who was the male spearhead of the 2023 wrestlers protests in India and thus spent a significant time away from training, lost in the semifinals of the trials. India won no quota in his weight category either. Dahiya, who had won silver in Tokyo, suffered a knee injury that required surgery in 2023 and wasn't his best self at the trials.
From two medal winners in Tokyo, there will be only one male Indian wrestler at Paris in Aman Sehrawat, who will compete in the same category as Ravi.
Mary Kom
London 2012 bronze winner Mary Kom is a name synonymous with Indian boxing, but she won't be competing at Paris 2024. That's primarily because she is 41 years old and international boxing rules allow competing only till the age of 40. Besides, her boxing crown has been passed onto reigning world champion Nikhat Zareen (more on her later).
And more...
Also missing in action will be Bhavani Devi, who in Tokyo became the first Indian fencer at an Olympics (did not qualify), discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur who had reached the final (serving a doping ban), long jumper Murali Sreeshankar (injured earlier this year), and sprinter Dutee Chand (serving a doping ban). In tennis, the retirement of Sania Mirza means there is no Indian woman in the mix.
What's new in Paris?
Positively for India, there are Olympic debutants who have the potential to win medals, or at least impress in a tough field. As many as 72 athletes will make their Olympic debuts in Paris, and some of them are proper contenders:
Nikhat Zareen - the two-time reigning world champion in 51kg boxing. She had to wait her turn, after the infamous trial request against Mary Kom before Tokyo Olympics.
Sift Kaur Samra - the reigning Asian Games champion in women's 50m rifle 3 positions, with a word record score and a win against the world champion from China at home. She spearheads a 21-strong shooting squad who have a good shot at ending the two-Games medal drought in the sport.
Antim Panghal - competing in women's 53kg, she was the first Indian wrestler to win an Olympic quota, and as a result forced Vinesh Phogat to drop down to the 50kg. This is the first time that wrestling will have seedings and her seeding at 4th gives her a good shot at a medal as she has avoided big names in the early rounds, including the juggernaut that is Akari Fujinami.
Aman Sehrawat - seeded sixth, he will have a couple of tough bouts to make it to the medal rounds. Coming from Chhatrasal, the nursery of Indian wrestling, he is a World U23 Champion and knows what it takes to be at the top from his idol, Ravi.
There are a few more highlights at Paris 2024, even if they may not translate into medals:
Two javelin throwers, with reigning champion Neeraj being joined by Asian Games medallist Kishore Kumar Jena.
Two men's singles badminton players in the draw, for the first time since the 2004 Olympics. Both 32-year-old HS Prannoy and 22-year-old Lakshya Sen are making their debut.
Jyothi Yarraji becoming the first Indian to qualify for women's 100m hurdles.
Wrestler Reetika Hooda becoming the first Indian to qualify for the Olympics in the heavyweight (76kg) category.
Swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu, at only 14 years of age, the youngest Indian to compete in the Paris Olympics. She got in through a quota and is not expected to get out of her heats, but imagine being an Olympian at 14 and having a chance to compete with the legends you idolise.
At the other end of the age spectrum, Rohan Bopanna, back at the Olympics after missing out in 2020. He's coming in as the oldest world No 1 in men's doubles ever and at 44 years old.