SUMMARY
From Manika Batra to Deepika Kumari, let’s take a look at key athletes who came close but failed to win medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
1 / 8India has ended its Paris Olympics campaign with six medals to its name, but the big decision on Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification remains pending (To be announced on August 13th) who may or may not add more medals to the total. For now, this means that the country will end up with a smaller medal count compared to the Tokyo Olympics, when there were seven athletes who finished on the podium. Let’s take a look at the key stars who came close, but just missed out on the podium. (Image source: Reuters)
2 / 8No. 1. Deepika Kumari | Sport: Archery | The archer came into these Olympics as one of the favourites to win a medal, however, she failed to make it onto the podium in either the individual or team events. While she finished 23rd in the women’s team event, her individual campaign ended in the quarter-finals, making it the fourth edition of the Games where she has returned without a medal to her name. (Image source: Reuters)
3 / 82: Manika Batra | Sport: Table Tennis | The paddler was one of the most promising stars who was expected to win a medal at the Paris Games. She competed in two events, namely the women’s singles and the women’s team. Her campaign ended in the quarter-finals in the latter and the round of 16 in the former. (Image source: Reuters)
4 / 83: P. V. Sindhu | Sports: Badminton | The 29-year-old, a two-time Olympic medallist, was defeated in the round of 16 by her Chinese counterpart BJ He in two straight games. She was India’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony and was expected to go all the way to claim a place on the tournament podium. (Image credit: Reuters)
5 / 84: Sharath Kamal | Sport: Table tennis | The experienced paddler suffered a shock exit in the second round against his Slovenian opponent Deni Kozul. In the men’s team event, Kamal was unable to lead his team past the first hurdle, thus ending his race on a disappointing note. (Image source: Reuters)
6 / 85: Antim Panghal | Sports: Wrestling | The 19-year-old, a world under-20 wrestling champion, retired in the first round of the 53kg freestyle category, losing 0-10 to her Turkish opponent Yetgil Zeynep. She was subsequently sent back to India for a disciplinary breach and now faces a three-year ban from wrestling due to the same. (Image source: Reuters)
7 / 86: Nikhat Zareen | Sport: Boxing | The boxer exited the competition in the second round after losing 5-0 to top seed Y. Wu of China. Zareen endured a difficult draw and suffered the consequences by failing to even make it to the quarter-finals at the Paris Games. (Image source: Reuters)
8 / 87: Kishore Kumar Jena | Sport: Javelin Throw | The Asian Games silver medallist failed to qualify for the final of the men’s javelin throw. He threw a distance of 80.73 metres in the preliminary round, well behind the 85.63 metres thrown by Jakub Vadlejch, who was the last athlete to advance from his group. (Image credit: Reuters)
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