India And Summer Olympics, Same Old Dismal Story!

A lot more medal events are to be held at the 33rd Summer Olympics in the city that is famous for fads and trends and fine arts and historical monuments which is Paris, but pessimism has gripped again from an India perspective at the Quadrennial games. The gold and silver has eluded sportspersons showing their talent representing the tricolour. The three bronze medals from Manu Bhaker (2 in the pistol events), Sarabjot Singh (1 pistol event with Manu) and Swapnil Kusale (rifle event) have lifted the spirit and hope somewhat in the India camp. Ambition, apart from skill and character, drives the individual sportsperson, virtues that have been amply mirrored in achievers like Manu, Sarobjit and Swapnil; the others like PV Sindhu, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and the women pugilists have not lacked it, but have come up short in their respective sport and event. India is still looking for an Abhinav Bindra (gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games) and Neeraj Chopra to win the most shining and valuable medal — the gold coloured. Neeraj will try his hardest in the javelin throw and Manu will have another medal shot in the 25 metre pistol competition and the men’s  hockey team will go for broke in the playoffs, but overall it’s been lacklustre results in most of the sports.  Asian giants China, Korea and Japan are in the top 10 of the leaderboard and will continue to impress. The Olympics will get tougher and tougher as the sportspersons prepare for the 34th Summer Games in Los Angeles in 2028 where Twenty20 cricket will make its debut. But the question on the eighth day of Paris 2024 is: Will India be able to win a gold medal over the next nine days?