India have always found it hard to make a mark in the track and field events at the Olympics. But Neeraj Chopra has shown how it is done. Will India conquer new peaks in athletics this time in Paris?

The golden boy...

One medal every Indian believes as already won in the Paris Olympic Games is in the javelin. Ever since Neeraj wowed the nation with his goal medal-winning feat in Tokyo three years ago, Indians have started to believe that javelin is one discipline where a medal is almost guaranteed. And they are not wrong.

Silver and gold at World Championships, Asian Games gold, Diamond League champion — Neeraj has won all the major events in this Olympic cycle. His consistency is just remarkable.

In Tokyo, nobody expected him to clinch gold even though chance of a medal was very much there. In the qualification round, Neeraj topped with a throw of 86.65m, ahead of big guns like like Johannes Vetter, Jakub Vadlejch and Julian Weber.

Then on August 7, 2021, Neeraj had a sensational throw of 87.03m and improved his distance in the next throw with an effort of 87.58m. The rest is history.

In Paris, he is expected to bring gold again. That will be great, back-to-back triumphs. But it will be not that easy.

In the Olympic Games, stakes are high and in high-pressure situations, anything can happen. So guessing a medal on the basis of statistics is difficult. Neeraj is bothered by the adductor (group of muscles located on the inner thighs) strain which stopped him from participating in the Ostrava Golden Spike on May 28.

He did not feature in the Paris leg of the Diamond League earlier this month and later said it was never part of his competition calendar this year.

Neeraj will face tough competition from Vadlejch (Czech Republic) and Weber (Germany). His season’s best (88.36m) is behind Max Dehning (90.20m), Vadlejch (88.65m), and Weber (88.37m). The gap between Neeraj, Vadlejch and Weber is minuscule though.

Dehning, at 19, is the youngest member of the 90-metre club. But he has not done much since his 90.20m show in early March. Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, who won the silver medal at the Budapest World Championships last year, has participated in just one tournament returning from an injury suffered last year. He finished fourth at the Paris Diamond League with a throw of 84.21m.

If Neeraj manages to free himself from the shackles of the niggling adductor strain, he is a definite favourite for the gold. Another thing that will be looked forward to is if Neeraj manages to breach the 90-metre mark. His personal best (89.94m) came during the 2022 Stockholm Diamond League and Neeraj, during every media interaction, is asked when he would join the 90-metre club. “It will come,” he assures every time.

...And the others

India named 30 athletes for the Paris Games, but with Midnapore-born shot putter Abha Khatua’s name missing from the list released by World Athletics, 29 will be seen in action.

India will hope a good number of its athletes will qualify for the finals of their respective events. In Tokyo, only two qualified for the final rounds — Neeraj and discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur. This time though the Athletics Federation
of India is confident there will be more.

One of the best bets will be Avinash Sable in 3000m steeplechase. In the Paris Diamond League, he bettered his own national mark with a timing of 8.09.91. In the Budapest World Championships, he could not qualify for the final rounds, but the 29-year-old has improved a lot in the last few months. India’s greatest-ever steeplechaser can have a podium finish if things go to his liking.

The men’s 4x400m relay team — Rajesh Ramesh, Muhammed Anas, Muhammed Ajmal, and Amoj Jacob — had made it to the final at the 2023 World Championships. Their timing of 2.59.05 was a national record. The problem is they are not in the best of form. In the World Relay Finals held in the Bahamas in early May, they clocked 3.03.23. That is something they would like to improve upon.

Javelin thrower Kishore Jena, who won silver at the Hangzhou Asian Games,
is not a contender for a medal but may qualify for the final round.

The contingent

Men: Sarvesh Kushare, Suraj Panwar, Akshdeep Singh, Vikas Singh, Paramjeet Bisht, Kishore Jena, Neeraj Chopra, Muhammed Anas, Muhammed Ajmal, Amoj Jacob, Santhosh Tamilarasan, Rajesh Ramesh, Avinash Sable, Tajinderpal Singh Toor, Abdulla Aboobacker, Praveen Chithravel, Jeswin Aldrin.

Women: Annu Rani, Parul Chaudhary, Kiran Pahal, Jyothi Yarraji, Ankita Dhyani, Priyanka Goswami, Jyothika Sri Dandi, Subha Venkatesan, Vithya Ramraj, Poovamma MR.

Reserves: Prachi, Mijo Chacko Kurian