Olympic Tales

India ended its campaign with six medals, pending Vinesh Phogat’s verdict, in the Paris Olympics. After achieving their best-ever tally of six medals at the Tokyo Olympics, India fell short of that mark by one medal in Paris. Yes, India did not win a Gold medal and finished 71st on the rankings, even behind Pakistan. However, considering as many as six fourth-place finishes, India can be proud of...

Arshad Nadeem won gold in the men's javelin final in Paris Olympics, dethroning Neeraj Chopra. It was an epic India vs Pakistan duel at the Olympics and it promises to become bigger and bigger in the coming years. Neeraj Chopra was favourite to win gold medal in the men's javelin final in Paris. However, Arshad Nadeem stunned the field with an Olympic record throw of 92.97m. Neeraj came close to b...

Harmanpreet Singh and his men have proved their naysayers wrong. After the heartbreak of the World Cup at home last year, the Indian men’s hockey team won its successive Olympic bronze medal. It came after India beat Spain 3-2 in the final in Paris on August 8. It was the 13th medal for Olympic hockey's most successful men’s team. It was a validation for the core group of Indian players, including...

Vinesh Phogat was a win away from becoming India's first female Olympic champion. The nation was waiting for Gold. On Tuesday, Vinesh Phogat had a dream day as she scripted one of the biggest upsets in Olympic history by beating Yui Susaki, the Japanese wrestler who had not lost an international bout until then and had an 82-0 record. After conquering the opening hurdle, Vinesh breezed into the fi...

Legendary badminton player Prakash Padukone criticised the Indian athletes for not living up to expectations after his ward, 22-year-old Lakshya Sen, lost the bronze medal bout in men's singles badminton. The former All-England champion, who runs a world-class academy in Bengaluru, expressed his frustration, saying he was disappointed that Indian shuttlers drew a blank in Paris. Prakash Padukone a...

The Indian hockey team thrilled the nation on Sunday, August 4. PR Sreejesh's men defeated Great Britain in a thrilling shootout to progress to the semi-finals. It was a special effort from the Men in Blue, as they were down to 10 men as early as the second quarter. The red card, a rare occurrence in hockey, was shown to India's defender Amit Rohidas. However, the 8-time Gold medalists defended th...

Pune-born Swapnil Kusale secured India's first-ever Olympic medal in the 50m rifle three positions event on a day when four strong podium contenders from the country, including PV Sindhu and Satwik-Chirag, were knocked out of the Games. While Swapnil won the bronze medal, Anjum Moudgil and Samra failed to qualify for the final of the women's 50m rifle three positions event. In-form Lakshya Sen con...

After shooters, Indian boxers look to add to the medals tally at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Lovlina Borgohain advanced to the quarter-finals of the women's 75kg boxing event after defeating Norway's Sunniva Hofstad by unanimous decision. On the other hand, unseeded Nishant Dev won his opening match against seventh-seeded Jose Rodriguez Tenorio of Ecuador with a 3:2 split decision. In the quarter-fin...

Indian shooters are making heads turn at the Paris Olympics. After failing to win a medal in the last two Olympic Games, the Indian shooters have won two medals in the first four days. Five of them have reached finals in the said period. They have been leading the way for the Indian contingent at the Games. Manu Bhaker opened India's medal tally, and she scripted history by becoming the first athl...

Manu Bhaker became the first Indian to win a medal for the country at the Paris Olympics. The 22-year-old shot a bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol to become the country’s first female Olympic medalist in shooting. Manu went through a tough phase after failing to live up to the hype in the Tokyo Olympics, her maiden Games appearance. Her pistol malfunctioned in a qualifying round, which impacted...

India has sent one of their strongest-ever badminton contingents for the Paris Olympics. The third episode of the Olympic Tales podcast is dedicated to India's badminton contingent in Paris. In this podcast special, the hosts Akshay Ramesh, Saurabh Kumar, and Kingshuk Kusari are joined by the Badminton Association of India General Secretary Sanjay Mishra. They discuss India's chances in badminton...

117 Indian athletes are set to participate in the Paris Olympics. Some believe that India will have their greatest-ever show in the history of the competition this time around. India certainly have athletes to back that claim. Neeraj Chopra in javelin, Nikhat Zareen in boxing and Satwik-Chirag in badminton are some of the biggest names in Paris. There are other things that make this Indian conting...

It’s time for the biggest sporting spectacle—the Paris Olympics. The Games will begin on July 26 and run until August 11. As many as 117 Indian athletes, the second-most significant contingent, will be in action at the Games. In this new India Today special podcast, ‘Olympic Tales’, we debate why it’s not always right to look at the medal count to judge the progress of Indian sports. Are we doing...