Notes from the city of love & games

Olympic Games are returning to Paris after exactly a hundred years. The City of Love, with its exquisite heritage architecture, is all dressed up to host the world’s biggest sporting spectacle. And there is an overall feeling of optimism spread across the country, after fending off the far-right in its parliamentary elections.The Indian contingent has arrived in batches — 117 athletes and 140 support staff. Several athletes have fine-tuned their preparations in various cities of Europe, to acclimatise and to stay away from the pressure of expectations back home.Paris is a big deal in India’s Olympic history. It was in the French capital that a sportsperson from India won a medal for the first time, when Calcutta-born Norman Pritchard scored silver medals in the 200m and 200m hurdles in 1900. Also in Paris, in 1924, tennis player Nora Polley, born in the western Uttar Pradesh town of Badaun, became the first woman from India to participate in the Olympics.A lot of water has flown in the Seine since. And the biggest question now is, can India improve upon its best ever show of seven medals at the 2020 Tokyo Games?The spotlight will undoubtedly be on that tall man with wavy hair who throws a spear to make a living. Neeraj Chopra, the spearman from Panipat, surprised the world with his gold medal throw in javelin in Tokyo. One of India’s greatest sportspersons ever, he looked unburdened, unfettered as he went about his business, leaving elite athletes in the dust.Neeraj has won everything, including Asian, Commonwealth and World titles, but is not done yet. He is just 26, one would say the right age for a field athlete to be in peak physical shape. He has mostly stayed injury-free, except for a niggle — an adductor problem — he faced earlier this year. He has recovered and is undergoing training in Türkiye. He has peaked well and should be on top of his game when the curtain goes up. Anything less than a medal from him would be, to put it mildly, disappointing.While Neeraj was the poster boy in Tokyo, it’s the ladies who kept the country’s Olympic pride at Rio in 2016 — shuttler PV Sindhu and wrestler Sakshi Malik. In Tokyo too, India’s medal rush was started by weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, Sindhu and boxer Lovlina Borgohain. All three are back, leading India’s charge in Paris.* Tokyo silver medalist Mirabai, now 30, has seen some valuable time lost to injuries on the road to Paris. She will attempt the heavy lifting again. * Sindhu is another athlete who refuses to fade away. Now 29, and down to No. 13 in the world rankings, the lanky shuttler would be happy to see the spotlight shift away from her. Given her experience, she can still spring a surprise or two. But the focus this time will be more on the doubles combination of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. Ranked No. 1 last year, they are now No. 3 and in good form. In the men’s singles, HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen are both out of top-10 but have beaten the best on their day.* Lovlina secured her Paris quota by winning a gold medal at the women’s world championship last year. That was her first big win after the Tokyo bronze. She has moved up from the 69kg category to 75kg and has been shaping up well. But the one everyone is talking about is two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen. The 28-year-old has slipped nicely into legendary MC Mary Kom’s shoes. The title of world champion sits easy on her shoulders.* Among the six wrestlers who have qualified, five are women, which is a record. Can they create a record in the medal numbers too? While most in the wrestling circles are talking about the medal prospects of Antim Panghal in the 53kg category, a battle-hardened veteran is quietly going through her training drills. Vinesh Phogat will be taking part in her third Olympics. The 29-year-old led the wrestlers’ campaign against federation chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh last year. With the case going to court, Vinesh returned to the mat. She has experience and skills. She needs a bit of luck. The other four wrestlers, a young and talented bunch, can also rise to the challenge.* One sport that saw a sudden increase in interest, then lost its way, but is now itching to stage a comeback is shooting. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore’s silver at the 2004 Athens Olympics and Abhinav Bindra’s gold at the 2008 Beijing Games led to a mushrooming of academies across the country. The slump in Rio and Tokyo was a huge setback. This time, a 21-member shooting contingent, the country’s largest ever, will aim for a handful. It is a young but motivated lot. They want to prove that they are not here to just shore up the numbers.* India can also spring a surprise in archery and table tennis.* Last but not least, the men’s hockey team is surely in contention for a medal. They won a medal after a gap of 41 years in Tokyo. Ranked No. 4 in the world, they can go all the way this time. A hockey medal always feels extra special.