In Greek mythology, Paris, the skilled archer after whom the French capital is named, stands as a symbol of love and war. Similarly, the Indian archery team, while missing the bull’s eye, played a part in an Olympic performance that was both commendable and hopeful. The Paris Olympics marked an improvement for India compared to the 2016 Rio Olympics, where the nation secured just two medals. However, the total of six medals this time—five bronze and one silver—fell short of the remarkable performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
One notable outcome of the Paris Olympics was the number of fourth-place finishes by Indian athletes. Six times, India narrowly missed a podium finish, offering hope that these close calls could translate into medals in future competitions.
Haryana emerged as the leading state in India for producing Olympic medalists. Despite comprising only 1.4% of India’s total land area, Haryana contributed four of the six medals India won, accounting for 66% of the country’s total medal haul. Notably, shooter Manu Bhaker made history by winning two bronze medals—one in the women’s 10m air pistol and another in the 10m air pistol mixed team event alongside Sarabjot Singh. Both athletes hail from Haryana. In addition, Neeraj Chopra won a silver medal in the Men’s Javelin Throw, and Aman Sehrawat earned a bronze in the Men’s 57kg freestyle wrestling event, both representing Haryana.
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Maharashtra also made its mark with Swapnil Kusale winning a bronze in the Men’s 50m rifle 3 positions event. Thus, Haryana and Maharashtra together secured all five individual medals for India. The sixth medal came in a team sport, with India winning silver in men’s field hockey, where nine of the 17 players were from Punjab.
India finished 71st in the medal tally out of 84 participating countries at the 2024 Paris Olympics. When viewed in the context of India’s vast population, the disparity becomes apparent.
INDIA: ONE MEDAL FOR EVERY 242 MILLION PEOPLE
With a population of 1.45 billion, India has one Olympic medal for every 241.67 million people. Haryana, with one medal per 7 million people, stands out starkly in comparison to Maharashtra, where there is one medal for every 125 million people.
Globally, India has a long journey ahead in bridging the gap between population size and Olympic success. The United States and China each won 40 gold medals, with the U.S. topping the overall medal count with 126 medals. The U.S., with a population of 332.18 million, boasts one medal for every 2.64 million people—the highest medal count at the Paris Olympics. China, with 91 medals and a population of 1.42 billion, has one medal for every 15.6 million people.
These numbers highlight both India’s achievements and the challenges that lie ahead as the nation continues to strive for greater success on the Olympic stage.
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