Part II: Overview of Paris 2024 Summer Olympics

The 2024 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIII(33rd) Olympiad, was held in Paris, France from 26th July to 11th August 2024.

• India was ranked 71st in the medal tally with 6 Medals (1 Silver & 5 Bronze) and ranked 71st.
• The United States of America (USA) topped the medals tally with 126 Medals (40 Gold, 44 Silver, 42 Bronze) followed by China with 91 medals (40 Gold, 27 silver and 24 bronze) and Japan with 45 medals (20 Gold, 12 Silver and 13 Bronze).

Top 10 on Medal Tally:

India’s Medal Winners:

Note: click here to know more about Indian medal winners of Shooting events.

Neeraj Chopra Won Silver in Javelin Throw

Neeraj Chopra (Haryana) won the Silver medal in the Javelin throw event with an 89.45-meter(m) throw. This marks his second Olympic medal. With this, he becomes the 5th Indian to win two Olympic medals.

• He previously won the gold Medal in the Javelin throw at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with an 87.58m throw.

Key Points:

i.Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem won the gold with an Olympic record throw of 92.97 meters. He broke the previous Olympic record of 90.57 meters, set by Norway’s Andreas Thorkildsen in 2008.

• He became the first Pakistani to win an individual gold medal in the history of Pakistan.

ii.Anderson Peters of Grenada won the bronze medal with a throw of 88.54 meters.

Other Indians with 2 Olympic Medals:

i.Norman Pritchard – Silver in Men’s 200m and 200m hurdles at the 1900 Paris Olympics. He is India’s first-ever medallist at the Olympic Games.

ii.Sushil Kumar – Bronze in Men’s 66kg wrestling at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Silver in Men’s 66kg wrestling at the 2012 London Olympics.

iii.PV Sindhu – Silver in Women’s singles badminton at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

iv.Manu Bhaker – Bronze medal in Women’s 10m air pistol and Mixed team 10m air pistol at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Indian Men’s Hockey Team Won Bronze

i.The Indian men’s hockey team won the bronze medal under the captaincy of Harmanpreet Singh. India defeated Spain with a score of 2-1 in the bronze medal match.

• This marks India’s second consecutive Olympic medal in men’s hockey. India previously won the bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
• The Netherlands won the Gold medal by defeating Germany 3-2 in the final. Germany won the silver medal.

ii.It is also the first time in 52 years that India has won back-to-back Olympic medals in hockey, with their last consecutive medals being in 1968 and 1972.

iii.Harmanpreet Singh was the tournament’s top scorer, netting a total of 10 goals throughout the competition, including both goals in the bronze medal match against Spain.

FIH Ranking of India:

i.After winning the bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, India was ranked 5th in the International Hockey Federation (FIH) world rankings. Before this, India was ranked 7th in the FIH world rankings.

ii.India’s highest ranking in the FIH is 3rd, which they achieved following their victory at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Achievements of the Indian Men’s hockey team:

i.So far, the Indian men’s hockey team has won a total of 13 medals (8 gold, 1 silver, and 4 bronze in the Olympics.

ii.India won the 1st Medal (Gold) in Olympic hockey in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. It was also India’s 1st Gold medal ever at the Olympics.

Additional: The Netherlands Women’s hockey team won a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.  This is the first time a country has won both (men and Women) gold medals in Olympic field hockey history.

Aman Sehrawat Won Bronze in Men’s 57kg Wrestling

Indian wrestler Aman Sehrawat (Haryana) won a bronze medal in the 57 kg freestyle wrestling by defeating Darian Toi Cruz from Puerto Rico with a score of 13-5 in the bronze medal match. This marks India’s 7th medal in freestyle wrestling at the Olympic Games.

• Rei Higuchi of Japan won the Gold Medal and Zelimkhan Abakarov from Albania won the silver medal.
• with this victory, Aman Sehrawat (21 years old) became the youngest Indian to win an Olympic medal.

Other Significant Achievements by Indians:

Avinash Sable Becomes 1st Indian to Qualify For Mens 3000m Steeplechase Final

i.Avinash Sable (Maharashtra) qualified for the men’s 3000m steeplechase final by finishing fifth in his heat with a time of 8:12.48. He finished in 11th position in the finals.

ii.He was also the first Indian male steeplechaser to qualify for the finals of the 2019 World Championships.

iii.He won a silver medal at the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships and a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Vinesh Phogat announced her retirement

Vinesh Phogat announced her retirement from wrestling after she was disqualified from Paris 2024 Olympics wrestling competition for being overweight (100 grams) ahead of the final in the women’s 50kg event.

• She was set to become the first Indian woman to compete in a wrestling final at the Olympics but was disqualified for being overweight.

Points to note:

i.In the opening round, she defeated defending Olympic champion Yui Susaki of Japan.

ii.Vinesh Phogat won the semi-finals by defeating Pan American Games champion  Yusneylis Guzman Lopez of Cuba.

iii.Following Vinesh’s disqualification, Yusneylis Guzman Lopez replaced Vinesh in the final against Sarah Ann Hildebrandt of the USA.

iv.Sarah Hildebrandt won the gold medal and Yusneylis Guzman Lopez won the silver.

About Vinesh Phogat:

i.She was the 1st Indian woman wrestler to win gold at both the Commonwealth and Asian Games, and the only one to win multiple medals at the World Wrestling Championships.

ii.She is a 2-time World Championships bronze medallist(2019, 2022), a 3-time Commonwealth Games champion (2014, 2018, 2022) and gold medallist at the Asian Games(2018) and Asian Championships(2021).

Olympic Order Awarded to Abhinav Bindra

i.Abhinav Bindra, was awarded the prestigious Olympic Order by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the 142nd IOC Session in Paris.

ii.He won the gold medal in the men’s 10-meter air rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Games and became India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist.

About The Olympic Order:

i.The Olympic Order is the highest award from the IOC, given to individuals for outstanding contributions to the Olympic movement, recognizing exceptional dedication to promoting the values and ideals of the Olympics.

ii.It was established in 1975, it replaced the Olympic Diploma of Merit.

iii.Indira Gandhi, Former Prime Minister (PM) of India, was awarded the Olympic Order in 1983 for her contributions to sports and the Olympic Movement.

PR Sreejesh & Manu Bhaker were India Flag-bearers at Closing Ceremony:

PR Sreejesh, the goalkeeper of the Indian men’s hockey team, and shooter Manu Bhaker, were named joint flag bearers of the Paris 2024 Olympics Closing Ceremony.

i.PR Sreejesh was instrumental in securing bronze medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

ii.After 18-year career, Sreejesh announced his retirement following the Paris Olympics.

Five Teams won their first Olympic medals in Paris

Albania, Cabo Verde, Dominica, Saint Lucia and the Refugee Olympic Team won their first medals during the 2024 Paris Olympics.

• Saint Lucia and Dominica both won gold, while the three others each won a bronze medal.

Saint Lucia:  Julien Alfred won the Gold medal in the Women’s 100 meter which was the first ever Olympic medal for Saint Lucia. She also won the silver in Women’s 200 meters events.

Dominica: Thea LaFond won the Gold Medal in Women’s Triple Jump which was the first ever Olympic medal for Dominica.

Albania: Islam Dudaev won the Bronze in Men’s Freestyle 65kg event, this was the first ever Olympic medal for Albania. Following this, Chermen Valiev won the bronze in Men’s Freestyle 74kg event.

Cabo Verde: David de Pina won the Bronze medal in Men’s 51kg boxing event. This was the first ever olympic medal of Cabo Verde

Refugee Olympic Team: Cindy Winner Djankeu Ngamba, Cameroonian by birth and living in England, won the Bronze in Women’s 75kg Boxing and became the first medalist since the creation of the Refugee Olympic Team, in 2016 for the Rio Games.

Points to note:

i.Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo (21 years old) won the gold at the Men’s 200m event of the Paris 2024 Olympics.  He became the first African to win the men’s 200m at the Games, doing so in a continental record of 19.46 seconds.

ii.Adriana Ruano Oliva won the gold medal in Women’s Trap (shooting) event and became Guatemala’s first Olympic champion.

iii.91 National Olympic Committees won at least one medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

iv.For Azerbaijan (3×3 basketball) and South Sudan (basketball), 2024 games marked their very first participation in team sports.

Football:

i.Spain defeated France 5-3 to win gold in men’s football at Paris’ Parc des Princes, France.

• Morocco won the bronze medal in Men’s football

ii.USA won the gold medal in women’s football by defeating Brazil 1-0 in the final at the Paris.

• This marks the 5th olympic gold medal of USA Women’s football team.
• For Brazil, this was a 3rd defeat against the USA in an Olympic final.
• Sweden won the bronze in women’s football.

Rohan Bopanna retires from Indian tennis:

Indian Tennis player Rohan Bopanna has announced his retirement from Indian tennis after bowing out of the Paris 2024 Olympics in the men’s doubles first round alongside N. Sriram Balaji.

• The Indian duo was defeated by the French duo of Gael Monfils and Edouard Roger-Vasselin (7-5, 6-2).
• Bopanna will continue to play in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) circuit.

About Rohan Bopanna:

i.Bopanna won his first Grand Slam title (mixed doubles) at the 2017 French Open, along with Gabriela Dabrowski.

ii.He won his first ATP Masters 1000 title at the 2011 Paris Masters alongside Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi(Pakistan). The duo was known as the “Indo-Pak Express”.

iii.Bopanna won the 2023 Indian Wells men’s doubles title in partnership with Matthew Ebden(Australia) and became the oldest player to win an ATP Masters 1000 title.

iv.Bopanna won the 2024 Australian Open Men’s Doubles title with Matthew Ebden, becoming the oldest player to win a Grand Slam title at 43.

Indian badminton player Ashwini Ponnappa Retires:

Indian badminton player Ashwini Ponnappa, announced her retirement after facing straight loss in the women’s doubles competition of the 2024 Paris Games.

• Ponnappa partnered with Tanisha Crasto(India) and competed in the women’s doubles competition at Paris 2024.

About Ashwini Ponnappa:

i.Ponnappa, partnering with Jwala Gutta, won the gold medal in women’s doubles at the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi.

ii.In 2011, Ponnappa and Gutta made history by becoming the first Indian pair to win a medal at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships, securing a bronze.

Germany’s Angelique Kerber to Retire from Tennis:

Three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber has announced that she is set to retire from tennis after 2024 Paris Olympic Games in Paris, France.

• She has won 3 grand slam titled which includes the 2016 Australian Open, 2016 US Open, and 2018 Wimbledon.
• She also won the Silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and 14 Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) career singles titles.

England’s diver Tom Daley announced his retirement:

British Olympic diver Tom Daley, is retiring from competitive diving after five medals.

i.He won the silver medal alongside Noah Williams in the synchronised 10m platform event at Paris 2024.

ii.With this, became the first British diver to win five Olympic medals. He won a bronze medal at London 2012, Gold Medals at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

Irish Boxer Kellie Harrington announced retirement:
Olympic boxing champion Kellie Harrington(Ireland) announced her retirement after winning the gold medal in the women’s 60kg lightweight division. She won the gold medal by defeating China’s Yang Wenlu.

• This marks her second consecutive Olympic gold medal. She previously won the gold during the Tokyo 2020 Games.

World Records at Paris 2024 Olympics

Los Angeles to host 2028 Summer Olympics:

i.Los Angeles, California, the USA, is set to host the 2028 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad, from July 14 to July 30, 2028.

ii.This will mark the city’s third time hosting the Olympics, following previous events in 1932 and 1984.

iv.The decision to award Los Angeles the Games was made during the 131st IOC Session in Lima, Peru, on September 13, 2017.

About the International Olympic Committee (IOC):
Established– June 23, 1894.
President– Thomas Bach
Headquarters– Lausanne, Switzerland