This year at the Paris Olympics 2024, India brings a fully stacked team of six archers. The last time India had a full team of archers was in the Olympic Summer Games held in London in 2012.
The Olympic events commenced with a round of Archery on the 25th of July, a day before the much awaited opening ceremony. Former No.1 in the world, Deepika Kumari, and veteran archer Tarundeep Raiare are making their fourth Olympic appearance in Paris. Pravin Jadhav, from the men’s team, has also returned for his second Olympic appearance after Tokyo 2020. Interestingly, this is also Deepika Kumari’s first appearance since becoming a mother.
Paris Olympics Archery Team for India
- Men: Tarundeep Rai, Dhiraj Bommadevara, Pravin Jadhav
- Women: Deepika Kumari, Bhajan Kaur, Ankita Bhakat
The ranking round happened yesterday, where all archers shoot 72 arrows and the scores are recorded.
The Women’s Archery Team won their way to the top four in the team event, thereby qualifying for the quarter-finals. Bhakat finished strong at 11th overall with a score of 666, fellow debutant Kaur finishing 22nd at 659 followed by Kumari finishing 23rd with 658 points.
The Men’s Team is also through to the quarter finals with Dhiraj Bommadevara getting 4th seed. Dhiraj’s 681 points helped India secure the third place in the team rankings and advance to the last eight.
India has ended the ranking round with a combined tally of 2013 points which puts them at the third rank. Korea is first, followed by France in the second spot. China stands at fourth – marking all the nations that have moved up to the quarterfinals.
Torch Relay Sees an Indian Legend
Abhinav Bindra, India’s first individual Olympic Gold medallist, who won the honours in the Beijing 2008 Olympics, was one of the torch bearers at the torch relay in Paris yesterday. The relay sees celebrities from across the board, from sports, music and Hollywood. Yesterday, along with Bindra, Snoop Dogg and Salma Hayek were also seen at the relay.
Bindra posted a photo of him carrying the torch and captioned it as, “Carrying the Olympic flame yesterday in the Paris 2024 Torch Relay was an honor beyond words. The spirit of the Games lives in each of us, and I am humbled to be part of this incredible journey. Let’s continue to inspire, dream, and achieve together! #Paris2024.”
On Monday, he also received the prestigious Olympic Order awarded by the International Olympic Committee for his outstanding contribution to the Olympic movement. The award ceremony will happen at the 142nd IOC Session in Paris, on August 10, a day before the final day of the Summer Olympics.
