Why Indian women across sport — PV Sindhu, Lovlina Borgohain, Vinesh Phogat, Aditi Ashok — could make waves at the Paris Olympics

Her story begins with a letter.

Jyothi Yarraji was 16 years old when she lifted a pen, hands trembling, to write to her elder brother Suresh, seeking his permission to do what she was ‘born to do’: run.

Suresh, she says, was so ‘protective’ and disapproving of a career in sport that Jyothi was ‘very scared’ even to hand him the note.
“I didn’t have the courage to walk up to my brother and speak to him,” the Asian Games silver medallist hurdler tells The Indian Express. “In school, I wasn’t afraid of my teachers but if I saw my brother, I used to run in the opposite direction.”

The heartfelt letter Jyothi penned concluded with her pleading for one chance. “I told him, ‘Give me one year. If I don’t make it, I’ll return and do whatever you tell me to do’.”

She didn’t have to return. Now, Jyothi is on the cusp of becoming the first Indian to run in the 100m hurdles race at the Olympics.

If the first hurdle Jyothi had to leap over was at home, for Nikhat Zareen it was her neighbourhood in Nizamabad. Only her father, Jameel, knows how the family took the punches society threw at them to produce one of India’s finest boxers who – like Jyothi – will make her Olympic debut in Paris.

“It’s tough to describe the significance of this,” Jameel tells this paper. “A girl child from a Muslim community, born and raised in a conservative neighbourhood… this is a very big deal and a very important moment for sport in India.”

Paris holds a significant spot in India’s Olympic history. In 1924, the last time the French capital hosted the Olympics, India fielded women athletes for the first time with Budaun-born Nora Polley becoming the first to represent the country, albeit under the Raj.

Exactly 100 years since the glass ceiling was shattered, a lot has changed. Punching and kicking, sprinting and smashing, the women are no longer here to make numbers – Paris 2024 seems primed to be the Games of India’s women Olympians.

The measures of success will be different for different athletes. By merely qualifying, Jyothi has become a pioneer. Success, for her, will be reaching the final in a star-studded field of one of the most competitive sprint races.

Nikhat expected to do heavy lifting

The likes of Nikhat, though, will be expected to do the heavy lifting, regardless of how tough their draw is, as far as India’s medal ambitions go — especially if the country hopes to surpass the Tokyo Olympics tally of seven.

Nikhat, India’s best boxing medal hope at the Games, was drawn into a group of some of the best boxers in her weight category and will have to fight five highly competitive matches. (PTI)

Indeed, defending gold medallist Neeraj Chopra remains the odds-on favourite to finish on the podium again. The badminton doubles pairing of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, too, will lick their lips in anticipation of biting the gold.

But in the Games where for the first time there will be gender parity in terms of participation numbers, some of the most captivating storylines as well as medal possibilities come from India’s women athletes.

On one hand, there is PV Sindhu, yearning to live up to her big-tournament player tag and win a third Olympic medal, a feat no Indian has achieved in individual events. Then, there’s the 14-year-old swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu, India’s second youngest Indian Olympian who will hope to make a splash in her debut Games.

Manika Batra returns to the Olympics stronger than she was three years ago in table tennis. And golfer Aditi Ashok comes to Paris with unfinished business from last time. Three years ago in Tokyo, Aditi stunned a heavyweight field to remain in medal contention until the end. Perhaps, the enormity of the moment got to her and she eventually finished fourth, joining a long list of Indian legends in the ‘heartbreak club’.

Instead of wallowing in self-pity, she’s gone from strength to strength in this Olympic cycle. Hitting long, chipping better and driving accurately than before, Aditi became the first Indian woman golfer to win a medal at the Asian Games last year. And she will land in Paris on the back of her best-ever performance at a Major championship, finishing tied 17th at the Amundi Evian Championship.

Aditi isn’t the only athlete hoping to bury the ghosts of Tokyo.

On Saturday, rifle shooter Elavenil Valarivan has a chance of making amends when she teams up with rookie Sandeep Singh in the 10m mixed team event, where the Games’ first medal will be on offer. Later in the afternoon, pistol shooter Manu Bhaker will seek redemption when she lines up in her qualification match.

An Olympic medal might have eluded them but the conveyor belt hasn’t stopped churning out world-class shooters.

One of India’s foremost contenders was studying to become a doctor until a year ago. Sift Kaur Samra, however, chose to put her medical career on hold in the hope of improving the health of Indian shooting.

Health has been on top of the agenda for Mirabai Chanu, too. The weightlifter has spent as much time with doctors and physios in the last three years as her coach. Multiple injuries and surgeries have not dented her ambitions to repeat the Tokyo Olympics silver medal show.

The same evening when Mirabai will launch her bid for a second Olympic medal, on August 7, roughly 4 km away near the foot of the Eiffel Tower, Vinesh Phogat and Antim Panghal will be scripting their own tales on the wrestling mat.

Coming on the back of year-long protests against sexual harassment of women wrestlers, their medal — no matter the colour — will weigh more than gold.

Redemption in Paris?

Manu Bhaker: Like Tokyo, she will compete in 3 events — 10m air pistol, 25m pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team. She didn’t qualify for the final in any of the events three years ago. This time, her coach Jaspal Rana says the preparation has been better and she has ‘matured’ as a shooter. Anjum Moudgil will be another shooter hoping for a better Olympics after the Tokyo debacle.

Vinesh Phogat: Her past Olympics have ended only in tears. In Rio, it was because of an injury. At Tokyo, a shock early-round loss ended her hopes. Vinesh has spent most of the curtailed Olympic cycle away from the mat, protesting against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. After returning to competition, she dropped her weight category to 50 kg — from 53 — a big change close to the Olympics.

Aditi Ashok: Three years ago, the golfer joined a long list of Indian legends who have suffered the heartbreak of finishing fourth at the Olympics. But she’s only gotten stronger since then, winning a medal at the Asian Games — the first Indian to do so — and recording her best finish at a Major championship heading into the Paris Games.

Dreamy debuts?

Nikhat Zareen: She has waited out the last two Olympic cycles to get her chance to be at the Games, given she is in the same weight category as the legendary Mary Kom. The draw may not have been kind to her but if anyone, it’s the two-time World Championship who has the chutzpah to navigate the minefield and find her way to the podium.

Antim Panghal: If the luck of the draw eluded Nikhat, it’s been way too generous for Antim. Competing in the 53 kg category, all the key competitors of the world and Asian Games medallist — wrestlers from Japan, China and Sweden — are on the opposite side of the draw. It gives Antim a straightforward path to the semifinals at least. It’s up to her to grab it.

Sift Kaur Samra: She quit her ambitions of making a career in medicine. Her life-altering decision has so far paid off, with the rifle shooter medalling at the Asian Games and the World Cup. Unlike some other shooters who come into these Olympics with the baggage of the past, Sift comes to Paris with a clean slate and in good form.

Will they become multi-medallists?

PV Sindhu: In her own words, Sindhu was an ‘underdog’ in Rio eight years ago when she returned with a silver medal. At Tokyo, she felt the ‘pressure’ as ‘everyone wanted a medal’ from her. This time, she ‘hopes’ to complete the hat-trick. Sindhu said she’s more ‘confident of her strokes and ability to last long rallies’. These facets have been missing from her game in the last year or so. Now will be a good time to find her touch.

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Mirabai Chanu: The weightlifter has been in a fight with herself to remain injury-free. It’s taken frequent medical interventions to keep her fit for Paris. The equation for Mirabai is simple — if she lifts her personal best, she will most likely be on the podium once again.

Lovlina Borgohain: Lovlina has had to make profound changes to her game since the Tokyo Olympics, where she won a bronze medal. A reshuffling of weight categories meant the boxer had to jump from the 69 kg category to 75. She has a tricky draw, having avoided the favourite Cindy Ngamba. Yet, it will be anything but easy for her.

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