India pins hopes of Olympic glory on star athletes

Neeraj Chopra will be looking to defend his 2020 Olympic gold

India will be looking to top its previous medal tally of seven as its best athletes compete in the Paris Olympics 2024.

The games will kick off on Friday, with the opening ceremony being held along the scenic Seine river.

India has sent 117 athletes to participate in 16 of the competition's 32 sports, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has said.

The contingent includes previous Olympic winners such as javelin champion Neeraj Chopra and boxer Lovlina Borgohain.

PT Usha, one of India's legendary track and field athletes and president of the IOA, told Times of India newspaper that she was confident that India would have a "double digit medal tally" in the 2024 Olympics.

She added that efforts had been made to provide competing athletes with critical support staff, including mental conditioning experts and personal coaches to aid their performance.

India will be looking to its top players to surpass its previous Olympic medal tally of one gold, two silver and four bronze won in Tokyo four years ago.

Here are some of the country's most promising players from the contingent:

Neeraj Chopra

India's most famous track-and-field athlete, Neeraj Chopra will be hoping to defend his Olympic gold in men's javelin throw from Tokyo 2020. Chopra has performed well in recent competitions, but could face a tough fight from Germany's Max Dehning who, in February, became the youngest javelin thrower to breach 90m. Chopra's best throw in Tokyo was 87.58m, while his overall best is 89.94m.

Nikhat Zareen

The two-time World Champion in boxing will be making her Olympic debut this year. Zareen, who will be competing in the 50kg category, is in great form and sports experts say a medal in Paris is well within her reach. She will undoubtedly be looking to step out of ace boxer Mary Kom's shadow, who has reigned over the sport and made history in 2012 by becoming the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal in boxing.

Zareen will be accompanied by Lovlina Borgohain, who will be competing in the 75kg category. Borgohain, who had won bronze in Tokyo, has had a meteoric rise in the sport and her fans hope her upward trajectory continues in this Olympics.

Mirabai Chanu clinched a silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics

Mirabai Chanu

Chanu clinched a silver in women's weightlifting in Tokyo and she will be looking to up her medal tally in Paris. But she has had a rough couple of months after battling a hip injury that made her lose crucial time needed for training. But with a personal best of 207kg (88kg in snatch and 119kg in clean and jerk) Chanu might just be able to give tough competition to rivals Hou Zhihui from China and Jourdan Delacruz from the US.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty

The duo are India's most promising badminton players in the competition. They currently have a World No 3 ranking in men's doubles, are in great form and have won medals in important tournaments like the Asian Games, Asian Championships and the World Championships. There is also PV Sindhu, who already has an Olympic medal in her kitty and will be looking to up her wins in the women's singles match.

Players celebrate after winning the men's bronze in Tokyo 2020

The men's hockey team

In 2020, the Indian team made history by winning an Olympic medal after 40 years. The team will be looking to better their win this year or at least repeat it. Though their performance in recent pro league matches has been lacklustre, fans hope they will put on a better show at the Olympics.

Sift Kaur Samra

In recent years, India has done well in shooting at the Olympics and all eyes will be on the contingent to bring home a medal or two. Samra is a promising young face from the lot, having set a new world record in the recent Asian Games by bagging 469.6 points to win the gold medal in women’s 50m rifle three positions - which involves shooting in the kneeling, prone and standing positions.

Antim Panghal

India has performed well in wrestling at the Olympics, having won seven medals in the sport so far. But last year, Indian wrestling was rocked by a controversy involving sexual harassment allegations against its federation's chief, which saw months-long protests by top wrestlers.

Two-time Olympian Vinesh Phogat, who was the face of the protests, will be looking to use her resilience and fortitude to bag a medal in Paris. But Antim Panghal, who qualified before Phogat for the Olympics, is arguably in better shape and has been on a winning spree in recent international competitions.

Some other notable players from this year's contingent include steeplechaser Avinash Sable, Jyothi Yarraji - who is India's first ever participant in women's 100m hurdles - and the men's relay team who put up impressive performances in Tokyo and the World Championships.

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