Lakshya Sen. Mirabai Chanu. Arjun Babuta.
Manu Bhaker. Dhiraj Bommadevara, Ankita Bhakat. Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan.
If there’s one thing connecting the stories of these athletes – apart from representing India at the Olympics, that is – it is that all of these athletes finished immediately outside the podium in their respective events at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. You can ask any athlete which position they would not like to finish in, and every one of them will tell you that it is the dreaded fourth place. Sport is cruel but for none more than those who finish in fourth.
It is the sobering marker of a successful failure — a place that deems you worthier than the rest, but still not deserving of a medal. So close, yet so far. Ace shuttler Lakshya Sen missing out on the bronze medal will arguably be the biggest heartbreak of the lot.
He entered his debut Summer Games seeded fourteenth, following a breakthrough year in 2022 where he finished first in the Commonwealth Games and was part of the team that claimed a historic win at the Thomas Cup for India. The 22-year-old was in blistering form in the group stages as he hammered all three of his opponents, including World No.3 Jonatan Cristie, without dropping a single set.
He also brushed past compatriot H.S.Prannoy in the round of 16 tie.
The two brightest sparks from a nation known for its fireworks, it was saddening that only one would make it out. Lakshya was challenged in his quarterfinal against 12th seed Chou Tien-chen, but eventually prevailed. Into the unknown With that, he had entered uncharted territory as he became the first Indian to make it to the last four of the badminton Men’s singles at the Olympics.
Viktor Axelsen was up next. A formidable shuttler who sent shivers down the spine of his opponents. The reigning Olympic champion towers over the field at 194cm and is sculpted for peak performance.
The Dane enjoyed a 7-1 advantage over Lakshya coming into the fixture. Despite the Indian’s spirited fight, that head-to-head skewed further in Axelsen’s favour. “Lakshya could have won today.
But he tensed up because he’s gone where no Indian has gone before. I’ve gone through that myself. He’s going to be a real contender at the Los Angeles Olympics in 4 years,” Axelsen said.
In the bronze medal match against Malaysia’a Lee Zii Jia, Lakshya charged to a 21-13 win in the first game. It was a familiar tale for Lakshya in the bronze medal clash against Malaysian Lee Zii Jia. The 14th-ranked shuttler seemed to have shaken his semifinal woes as came in thundering, winning his first game 21-13.
However, the ghosts of Axelsen came back to haunt him. It was a pitiful sight indeed. The Indian had no response to the Malaysian’s relentless rockets and capitulated to a disheartening 21-13, 16-21, 11-21 loss, finishing fourth overall.
Matter of margins Mirabai Chanu, the golden girl of Indian weightlifting, was a top medal contender for her nation going into Paris on the back of an unprecedented silver at Tokyo 2020. Having recovered from a hip injury she picked up at the 2023 Huangzhou Asian Games which sidelined her for five months, Mirabai persevered with a fire in her eyes but with generous caution as even the slightest mismanagement of her injury would damage her hopes of competing in Paris. Mirabai Chanu.
| Photo Credit:RITU RAJ KONWAR The only event she took part in in 2024 was the World Championship where she finished 12th with a combined lift of 184kg, enough to book her ticket to the French capital. In her third Olympics, a medal would have meant that she would have become only the third Indian to win an individual medal in consecutive games alongside P.V.
Sindhu (2016, 2020) and Neeraj Chopra (2020, 2024). Mirabai matched her highest snatch effort of 88kg in her third attempt while she recorded 111kg in clean and jerk. The target was set.
The podium visible. The Indian needed a cumulative total of over 200kg going into her final clean and jerk attempt to secure her medal. Unfortunately, Mirabai couldn’t replicate her Tokyo heroics, falling agonisingly short, as she failed to complete the 114kg lift and finished outside the medal bracket.
India’s most successful showing at the Paris Olympics came 300km away from the French capital. The fabled Chateauroux Shooting Centre in central France was home to all shooting events and witnessed the Indian contingent win three bronze medals in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol (Manu Bhaker), the Mixed 10m Air Pistol (Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh), and the Men’s 50m Rifle Three Positions (Swapnil Kusale). But Chateauroux also toyed with Indian hearts as much as it gave them joy with Indians finishing fourth in three events at the shooting centre.
The fact that it was closest to the podium magnified the distance from the mythical metal. Inches seemed like light years. It was only apt that the minuscule margins of elite sport were highlighted by shooting, a sport where millimetres are the difference between first and last.
In her quest for a historic third medal at the same Games, Manu Bhaker was on course for glory once more after two bronze medals already in the bag. She qualified for the final of the Women’s 25m Pistol Shooting by finishing second in Rapid qualification and third in Precision. The two-time Olympic medallist started the final strong and was consistently in the podium places as the final approached its last four contenders.
Manu, tied for second at 26 points after Series 7, one away from the eventual winner, F Yang Jiin and one ahead of Hungarian Veronika Major, needed only a middling score of three from her next five to secure a medal as Major missed two. Manu who had missed only two of her previous 10 shots, misfired thrice in the deciding round to finish level on points with Major and head into a shoot-off for a medal. History was hanging in the balance.
You could see the headlines being written. Magical Manu secures a golden hat-trick of bronzes in Paris. Could the Indian etch her name in the highest echelon of sport? Manu Bhaker.
| Photo Credit:RITU RAJ KONWAR She started strong by making her first two shots while her Hungarian counterpart missed the second. She was three good shots away. Did she have the mettle? The third time proved unlucky as the Indian missed while her competitor faced a better result.
Level on points, Manu was still in contention. But the nerves got the better of her as she missed her second consecutive shot, all but sealing her fate. Another bang later, it was over.
Manu, still magical, would have to settle for a bronze double and a grey fourth place that came agonisingly close to being as colourful as the others. Chateauroux, a beauty when it wants to be but a beast otherwise, spurred similar fates for Manu’s compatriots as Arjun Babuta, and Anantjeet Singh and Maheshwari Chauhan missed out on medals in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle and the Mixed Skeet Team events respectfully. Paris, the city of light, had given India a few glimmers of hope in an Olympic campaign otherwise dulled by close calls and what-could-have-beens.
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