On his Olympic debut, archer Dhiraj Bommadevara learnt just how small the margins in elite sport are. Competing in the round of 32 match on 30 July, in the men’s individual event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Bommadevara was close to perfection, but his opponent was closer still. In a high-quality match, Bommadevara handled the pressure well and found a 10 in the shoot-off (one arrow each). So did his opponent Eric Peters. Only the Canadian’s arrow was 2.4cm closer to the centre of the target than Bommadevara’s.
It was heartbreaking and added to the decades of Olympic disappointment for Indian archery. But these are the moments that make the Olympic Games. Not all heroes wear medals.
Making the cut for Paris 2024 was already a milestone for the 22-year-old from Vijayawada, who could only compete at the 2021 World Youth Championships because his parents pawned jewellery to raise funds and launch his career. On 30 July, despite coming up against a World Championship silver-medallist, Bommadevara held his own in an edge-of-the-seat contest where 13 of the last 14 shots were perfect 10s.
Though the India No.1 had to bow out of the competition, Bommadevara is one of the Indian Olympic debutants who made a big impression in the first week of Paris 2024. Also making a mark was fellow archer Bhajan Kaur, badminton ace Lakshya Sen, table tennis dynamo Sreeja Akula and shooting stars Swapnil Kusale, Sarabjot Singh and Arjun Babuta.
While Singh teamed up with Manu Bhaker and won India’s second medal—a bronze in 10m air pistol mixed team event—of the Paris Games, Babuta felt the hurt of a lonely fourth place finish. Just one step short of the podium.
“Whenever I met anyone from the Indian contingent—support staff or coaches or other shooters—I just cried,” Babuta said in a media interaction after the 10m air rifle final on 29 July. The tears weren’t only for what had ensued at the Paris Games, but the bumpy ride that had got him there. In 2018, aged 19, Babuta had suffered a career-threatening back injury. But he had managed to claw back and nearly made the medal huddle.
Paris 2024 has already been a landmark Olympics for Indian table tennis as the nation qualified for the men’s and women’s team events for the very first time. Apart from the towering Manika Batra and the evergreen Achanta Sharath Kamal, the person who has given Indian table tennis a lift in recent times is Akula. In a sport where speed and smarts matter more than strength and power, the 5ft, 4 inches Akula is proving to be a handful. By making the round of 16, Akula and Batra became the first Indian women to reach that far in the Olympics. On her 26th birthday, on 31 July, Akula also went toe-to-toe with world No.1 Sun Yingsha in the pre-quarterfinal before bowing out 4-0.
In another racket sport, on the same day, Sen’s big-match temperament was on show as he trumped the reigning Asian Games and All-England champion Jonathan Christie. The 22-year-old not only defeated the Indonesian 21-18, 21-12 to win a tough group and advance to the round of 16 but also sent fans in a frenzy with an audacious no-look backhand block that turned a close first game in his favour.
This is the confident, courageous Sen that had captured the attention of the badminton world in early 2022 before injuries took their toll. He got out of the funk just in time, at this year’s French Open in March, to qualify for Paris 2024.
Also embracing the big stage is archer Bhajan Kaur. The bubbly teenager, who has a serious game face, was the best on show in India’s women’s team event and progressed to the round of 16 in the women’s individual event. The 18-year-old overcame a deficit of 1-3 to win the opening round and blanked Polish archer Wioleta Myszor 6-0 in the second. She will take on Indonesia’s Diananda Choirunisa in the pre-quarterfinal on Saturday.
In the first week, the Indian debutants with the biggest gains were Sarabjot and Kusale. It has been a coming-of-age performance for the shooting contingent, which has long been tipped for greatness. While Bhaker captured India’s first medal of Paris 2024 by winning the 10m air pistol women’s event, Bhaker-Sarabjot and Kusale broke new ground for India. Bhaker-Sarabjot’s bronze in mixed team 10m air pistol was a first team medal in shooting for India and Kusale won the nation’s first medal in possibly the most technical and taxing 50m rifle 3 positions event.
Sarabjot, the man who loves fast cars, had excelled in a sport that rewards stillness. A year ago, Sarabjot couldn’t be a part of the Indian team that went to Paris for an Olympic preparatory camp because of an arm injury that rendered him unable to even lift a pistol. Though a bit nervous to begin with, Singh, 22, warmed up to the competition in the bronze medal play-off on 30 July.
A ticket collector in the Indian Railways, Kusale has come up the ranks the hard way. Hailing from a farming family in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra, Kusale didn’t have enough money to pay the fee to participate at events or buy bullets at one point. All these struggles faded into the background as he brought his Olympic dream into focus on 1 August. Kusale scored 451.4 (combined total in kneeling, prone and standing position) to clinch a bronze at the Paris Games.
Medals might be the most tangible outcome, but athletes come to the Olympic in search of a variety of things. For US’s most decorated gymnast, Simone Biles, Paris 2024 has been about facing up to the demons and conquering them.
Biles had withdrawn from most of the events at the Tokyo Olympics as she got a case of “twisties” during the team competition. It’s a term used to describe a mental block that leaves the gymnast disorientated in air. Tipped to win seven gold medals in Tokyo, the American had returned with a silver and a bronze.
On 30 July, Biles came up with another stunning performance to lead the US to victory. It was the first gold for Biles since Rio 2016. “After I finished vault, I was relieved,” she said during post-event media interaction. “I was like, ‘Phew!’ because at least no flashbacks or anything. As soon as I landed vault, I was like, ‘Definitely were’ going to do this’.”
It wasn’t, however, a happy “homecoming” for Rafael Nadal. Roland Garros has long been Nadal’s domain, but he couldn’t quite conjure the magic on the brick-red clay courts this time. A 14-time champion at the French Open, Nadal’s singles outing ended in the second round this time as he lost 1-6, 4-6 to Novak Djokovic.
The bigger shock came in doubles as the Spanish dream team of Nadal-Carlos Alcaraz were knocked out on 31 July. The past and present best on clay lost 2-6, 4-6 to US’s Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram in the quarterfinal, in what was possibly Nadal’s last match at Roland Garros.
Great Britain’s Dan Evans and 37-year-old Andy Murray ran out of miracles by the quarterfinals. Having saved five match points in the first round and two in the second, they finally went down 2-6, 4-6 to USA's Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz on 1 August.
"I’m glad I got to go out here at the Olympics and finish on my terms," Murray told reporters after the match. “Obviously it was emotional because it’s the last time I will play a competitive match. I’m happy with how it finished.”
Paris 2024 may close yet another chapter for the golden generation of men’s tennis as this could be the last Olympics featuring Nadal, Murray and Novak Djokovic.
Deepti Patwardhan is a sportswriter based in Mumbai.
