India to kickstart Paris Olympics journey on Thursday across 16 disciplines
A 117-member Indian contingent will kickstart its Paris Olympics campaign on July 25, competing in 69 medal events across 16 sports.
A 29-member athletics team, led by Neeraj Chopra, will represent a large portion of the contingent traveling to France for the Olympics. There will also be a 21-member shooting contingent, the second-largest team sent by India for any sport at Paris 2024. This is the largest shooting team India has sent in its Olympic history, surpassing the 15 shooters sent to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, as per Olympics.com.
The archers competing in Paris to raise the tricolor high include stars like Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai. They will be competing in the individual ranking rounds on July 25 and will be the first Indians in action, prior to the opening ceremony scheduled for the next day.
India will get its first shot at a medal during the mixed team air rifle matches scheduled for July 27 at the National Shooting Centre in Chateauroux. Two Indian teams, Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan and Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal, will compete in this event. Manu Bhaker will compete in two individual pistol events and the 10 m air pistol mixed team competition as well.
However, the star of the show, reigning Olympic and World champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, will be in action in August. The qualifiers for the men’s javelin throw event will take place on August 6, and the final will take place two days later.
Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu will aim to make it a hat-trick of medals during the badminton events scheduled from July 27 to August 5.
Tokyo 2020 silver medalist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu will be in action in the women’s 49 kg category competition scheduled for August 7.
Lovlina Borgohain, who won a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics, will compete in the boxing events starting on July 27 and concluding on August 10. During this time, two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen is set to make her Olympic debut as a significant medal prospect for Team India.
The 16 sports India will compete in during Paris 2024 are: Archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, equestrian, golf, hockey, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, and tennis.
The Olympics will conclude on August 11. India will look to surpass its tally of seven medals from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which included one gold, two silver, and four bronze medals.
