As the world marks 100 days until the opening of the 2024 Paris Olympics, anticipation and excitement are building for what promises to be a spectacular event.
The Games will kick off with group matches of football, rugby, handball, and archery starting from July 24. The official opening ceremony will take place on July 26. In a historic first, the opening ceremony will be held at the Seine and Jardins du Trocadéro, marking the first time in Olympic history that the opening ceremony will not be held in the main stadium.
How are Indian Athletes shaping up for the Paris Olympics?
India enjoyed its best-ever outing at an Olympic Games in Tokyo three years ago and expectations from the Indian contingent is high this time around. India sent its largest contingent to an Olympic Games with 126 athletes competing in 18 events in Tokyo – returning with seven medals, a gold, two silver and four bronze medals.
So far, a total of 42 Indian athletes have qualified, but that number is expected to increase in the next few weeks with many sports holding their final Olympic qualification events.
Take a look at India’s chances to reserve more quotas for Paris Olympics
Archery
Dhiraj Bommadevara is the only Indian to have secured a quota, winning it at the Asian Continental Qualification Tournament last year.
As things stand, India has two more chances to send a full contingent of six archers to Paris: the Final Team Qualification Tournament which will be held in Antalya, Turkey in June, and via the world rankings.
Athletics
Thirteen Indian athletes have met the qualification standard in track and field events for the Paris Olympics. Each National Olympic Committee can only send three athletes per event per gender. In the case of the men’s 20km race walk, seven athletes have met the qualification standard set by World Athletics.
It will be up to the Athletics Federation of India to decide who among the seven will make the cut for Paris.
Boxing
India have one last chance to add to the four quotas they have won when they take to the ring at the second World Olympic Qualifiers in May.
Fencing
CA Bhavani Devi, the only Indian fencer to compete at the Olympics, when she made the cut in Tokyo, needs to win the Asia and Oceania Zonal Tournament to qualify for Paris.
Golf
The top 60-ranked men’s and women’s golfers will qualify for the Games with each country allowed to name two golfers per gender.
Aditi Ashok, who came close to finishing on the podium in Tokyo, Dikhsa Dagar, Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar are all ranked in the top 60 and are in pole position to make the cut for Paris.
Gymnastics
Dipa Karmakar and Pranati Nayak are ranked fourth and fifth in the vault Olympic Qualification World Cup Ranking List. Only the top two gymnasts get direct entry for the Olympics.
Karmakar and Nayak’s final opportunity to qualify for the Olympics will be at the Asian Championships which will be held in Tashkent in May to qualify for the Paris Olympics. However, only one quota is up for grabs at the Asian Championships.
Judo
As things stand, Avtar Singh (men’s 100kg) will be India’s sole judoka in Paris having provisionally qualified via continental quota.
Rowing
India hasn’t secured any quotas in rowing so far with two qualification tournaments left. The Asian & Oceania Continental Qualification Regatta will be held in Chungju, South Korea from April 19 to 21 with the Final Qualification Tournament scheduled from May 19 to 21 in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Shooting
India have secured a record 20 quota spots out of a permissible 24. So far, India is the only country apart from hosts France that will have a shooter in each of the 12 disciplines in Paris.
India will look to clinch four additional quotas – one each in men’s and women’s skeet shooting and trap shooting – at the Shotgun Olympic Qualifiers which will be held from April 19 to 29 in Doha, Qatar.
Wrestling
Antim Panghal is the only wrestler to have won a quota spot for India. Indian wrestlers have two more chances to qualify for the Olympics. Two spots per weight category are up for grabs at the Asian Qualification Tournament which takes place from April 19 to 21 in Tashkent. A further three spots per category will be available at the World Qualification Tournament which will be held from May 9 to 12 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Paris Olympics: Dates, streaming
The Paris Olympics, scheduled to run from July 26 to August 11, 2024, will see close to 10,500 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees compete in 329 medal events across 32 sports. The first medal is set to be awarded in shooting on July 27, and the final medal event of Paris 2024 will be women’s basketball on August 11.
100 jours pour partager ensemble la magie des Jeux !
La Flamme Olympique de #Paris2024 est en route 🔥
–
100 days to share the magic of the Games together!
The #Paris2024 Olympic Torch is on its way 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4svH0QO7Yk— Paris 2024 (@Paris2024) April 17, 2024
In India, the Games will be broadcast live on Sports18, and live streaming will be available on JioCinema. Indian athletes are expected to put up a strong performance, following their best-ever haul of seven medals, including a historic gold medal in athletics, at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
Also Read: Sreeja Akula eliminated in Group 2 of the ITTF World Cup
