The Paris Olympics of 2024 concluded on August 11 with much fervour and celebration, as the games now look to the American city of Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympics. The Indian contingent ended the games with a grand total of 6 medals, signing off in the 71st position out of a total of 91 entries.
This aforementioned ranking was lower than the previous ranking at the Tokyo Games in 2021, when the South Asian country ended with a total of 7 medals, occupying the 48th position on the medal table.
I’m extremely proud, of course, of our valiant medal winners of the Paris Olympics.
But I have to confess a sense of distress when seeing our overall ranking plummet.
Everyone usually has a great theory about what we need to do to live up to our potential & garner a… pic.twitter.com/ZS3SjVBvFn
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) August 17, 2024
This is something that many, including Mahindra Group head Anand Mahindra, have taken cognisance of. In fact, Mahindra took to X to express his discontent.
He started his post by saying, “I’m extremely proud, of course, of our valiant medal winners of the Paris Olympics.”
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Later, cutting to the chase, Mahindra said, “But I have to confess a sense of distress when seeing our overall ranking plummet. Everyone usually has a great theory about what we need to do to live up to our potential & garner a respectable number of medals given our population.”
Mahindra claimed that he was puzzled about this development, as according to him, the government has done its part of spending resources at National and State-level.
Neeraj Chopra missed his second gold medal at the Olympics, eventually settling for a silver.
He also claimed that the status of the larger sports-related infrastructure in the country has ‘dramatically’ improved.
He invoked some private players and names, including Jindal, who have contributed to the cause of sports movement in the country.
Despite all these developments, the nation’s progress in the sporting carnival does not appear to have taken off, at least not as of yet.
Mahindra underscored this element and added, “Even the national mindset has changed, & there is a huge interest in our athletes, & we celebrate them with fervour.”
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He concluded the post, sounding a little exasperated as he remarked, “So WHAT on earth is it that prevents us from finding world-beating talent in Olympic sports??”
It is to be noted that India managed to bag a glittering gold in Tokyo, a feat that the country could not attain in the recently concluded Paris 2024. This ended up affecting India’s ranking significantly and putting it behind Pakistan, who ended the games ahead of India with a solitary gold medal on 62.
