Paris 2024 Olympics: From Arjun Babuta to Lakshya Sen, list of Indians who narrowly missed out on podium finish

The 33rd edition of the Summer Olympics took place in Paris from July 26 to August 11 this year.

The Paris 2024 Olympics featured 32 sports, including the 28 “core” disciplines, that include breaking, skateboarding, surfing and sports climbing.

A total of 117 Indian athletes, comprising 70 males and 47 females, competed at the Summer Games this year.

While India finished its campaign in 71st place among 207 NOCs with sex medals — five bronze and a silver, there were several close finishes where the Indians missed a podium finish by a whisker.

Here’s the list of Indian athletes who narrowly missed out on medals:

MANU BHAKER – WOMEN’S 25M PISTOL (SHOOTING)

Manu Bhaker has had an Olympic to remember. The 22-year-old from Haryana bagged two bronze — in women’s 10m air pistol and mixed team 10m air pistol — to become the first woman from India to win an Olympic medal.

Manu came agonisingly close to clinch her third medal at the Paris Summer Games. In the 25m pistol final, Manu finished fourth after losing a shoot-off against Hungary’s Veronika Major.

ARJUN BABUTA – MEN’S 10M AIR RIFLE (SHOOTING)

Arjun Babuta faced a similar fate to Manu by finishing fourth — just one spot away from a podium finish. After qualifying comfortably for the 10m air rifle final, Babut was third after the first 10 shots (first competition stage) in the final.

Babuta put up a brave fight against the likes of four-time Worlds medallist and world record holder Sheng Lihao and 2023 world champion Victor Lindgren.

Still, the 25-year-old ended up losing the bronze medal to Croatia’s Miran Maricic after giving in to the pressure and shooting a rare 9.5 off his final shot. Maricic was only 0.2 ahead of Babuta until the deciding shot was fired.

MAHESHWARI CHAUHAN & ANANT JEET SINGH NARUKA – SKEET MIXED TEAM (SHOOTING)

The curious case of the one missed target came back to haunt the Indian shooting contingent once again, albeit this time in the shotgun arena.

A surprise fourth-place finish from Anant Jeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan in the skeet mixed team qualification saw the duo lock horns with China in the bronze medal match.

Jiang Yiting and Lyu Jianlin eventually won the contest 44-43, with the latter registering a perfect series.

LAKSHYA SEN – MEN’S SINGLES (BADMINTON)

Lakshya Sen, the first Indian man to make it to an Olympic badminton semifinal, could not close in the bronze medal match. The shuttler from Almora lost to Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia after winning the first game 13-21.

The Malaysian overcame a slow start to win the match 13-21, 21-16, 21-11 and secure his first Olympic medal.

VINESH PHOGAT – WOMEN’S 50KG FREESTYLE (WRESTLING)

Vinesh Phogat shook the whole world after beating the top-seeded grappler in women’s 50kg wrestling, Japan’s Yui Susaki, to qualify for the quarterfinals in what was one of the biggest upsets in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Susaki, a four-time World champion and the Olympic gold medallist from Tokyo, was unbeaten in the last 82 international fights. Vinesh, on the other hand, was competing at the 50kg for the first time after cutting down from the 53kg.

Vinesh continued her stellar run and went on to hand defeats to Ukraine’s Oksana Livach and Cuba’s Yusneylys Guzman. However, the fate took a u-turn on her and she was disqualified from the gold medal bout after failing to make the weight cut by just over 100 grams.

NISHANT DEV – MEN’S 71KG (BOXING)

Nishant Dev’s 4-1 loss to Pan American Games champion Marco Verde in a 71kg quarterfinal bout cut short his Paris Summer Games campaign abruptly.

Worlds bronze medallist Nishant, who saw off Ecuador’s seventh-seeded Tenorio Rodriguez in his first fight, got off to a fine start against Verde by employing his jabs and combinations against second-seeded Verde to win the opening round 4-1 despite being served a standing count.

However, the Mexican, who had lost to Nishant in the 2021 World championships in Belgrade, showcased his explosive game in the next two rounds and denied Nishant a podium finish.

LOVLINA BORGOHAIN – WOMEN’S 75KG (BOXING)

One of India’s brightest medal hopes at the Paris Olympics, Lovlina Borgohain failed to make a podium finish this time around.

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist and World champion, Lovlina lost to the number one seed and Asian Games champion Li Qian of China 4-1 in a hard-fought women’s 75kg quarterfinal bout.

Even though Lovlina, who defeated 2022 World Junior champion Sunniva Hofstad in her opening bout, tried her best, Li maintained an upper hand in a physical second round and managed another 3-2 decision in her favour, making sure the Indian boxing contingent go without a medal.

MIRABAI CHANU – WOMEN’S 49KG (WEIGHTLIFTING)

Mirabai Chanu’s courageous push for a second consecutive Olympic medal ended on a disappointing note with the Tokyo Games silver medallist managing a fourth-place finish in the weightlifting women’s 49kg category with an aggregate of 199kg.

With a clear target of securing a 200kg-plus total to assure herself a medal, the ace Indian lifter, who recovered from a hip injury she picked up at the Asian Games that kept her out of lifting for four months, took rapid strides while preparing for the Olympics but missed a podium finish by one kg.

Mirabai matched her best snatch effort of 88kg in her third attempt. She recorded a clean and jerk mark of 111kg in her fifth, while her final effort for 114kg, in order to ensure a medal, did not succeed

DHIRAJ BOMMADEVARA & ANIKTA BHAKAT – MIXED TEAM (ARCHERY)

The other near-miss on a podium finish came in the archery where the mixed team of of Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara went down 2-6 to USA’s Casey Kaufhold and Brady Ellison in the bronze medal match to settle for a fourth-place finish.

After becoming the first Indian pair to reach the semifinal of an archery event in the Olympics, Dhiraj and Ankita failed to win a medal.