PARIS: It started with incessant rain on the night of July 26, right next to the gloriously lit Eiffel Tower. It was an opening ceremony like no other. You watched it on big screens as the athletes and officials cruised on boats on the river Seine, waving at the spectators standing in hordes at the riverside.
Drenched to the bones in open stands, you watched Zinedine Zidane run into the Trocadero arena with the Olympic flame to deafening applause and hand it over to Rafael Nadal.The Olympic cauldron was finally lit with a burning arrow. It was a spectacle to remember.
Then days went by in a blur. It was competition time. The real deal. You got sucked into it. The daily rides in the Metro were the same, the food at the Olympic venues was the same, at every venue! But the action inside every arena had its distinct flavour. It was an emotional roller-coaster ride.
For me, the strongest image of Paris 2024, which ended on Sunday, was that of Vinesh Phogat sitting inside the Games Village, deep in thought, after entering the final of 50kg freestyle wrestling. She had fought bravely that day, had beaten the world champion on the way. But she was worried. Not about her American opponent in the final, but her weight. She was 2.7kg overweight and had to shed it overnight. The weigh-in was early morning and it was not going to be easy.
She missed it by a mere 100g. That must have weighed like a ton on every Indian’s mind. Vinesh was severely dehydrated, mentally a wreck. She has healed physically by now. The mind is another matter.
The other image is that of Pakistan‘s Nadeem Arshad‘s javelin throw that travelled 92.97m at the Stade de France. And how it ended India’s hopes of a gold medal repeat in the event. Neeraj Chopra, fighting a groin niggle, had a fantastic throw of 89.45m himself. But there was no way he was going to catch up. There will be another time when Neeraj undergoes surgery and returns to action fitter than he has been in years.
Gold and silver. It is massive. The greatest sportsperson of India, ever? Yes, without doubt, and Neeraj is just 26.
The train journeys to Chateauroux – 300km south of Paris – will certainly stay in memories – getting up at 4am to catch the train from Paris-Austerlitz and reaching the shooting ranges bleary-eyed. It was made worthwhile by the smiling, twinkling eyes of shooter Manu Bhaker who created history there. She won back-to-back bronze medals and came very close to winning another. No Indian has two medals in the same Games. She has raised the bar. She is just 22, so will surely be back for more.
Manu’s second medal came in the company of Sarabjot Singh in the mixed 10m air pistol event.
Shooting gave us another bronze medal. Swapnil Kusale won it in the 50m rifle 3P event. While the buzz over Manu’s two medals had not yet died down, Swapnil, 29, quietly went about his business and pleasantly surprised us all.
The hockey bronze was special. They had won it in Tokyo and wanted it again. They won it by beating Spain 2-1. Ten of the team were part of the Tokyo bunch which had got India a hockey medal after 41 years. They knew how to win it.
They lost a very close match to Germany in the semifinals. It could have gone either way. It could have broken their confidence. But for them, there was no time to look back. They said they wanted to win a medal for their 36-year-old goalkeeper PR Sreejesh who was playing his farewell match for India. They won it in style. It was after 52 years that India had won back-to-back hockey medals.
On the penultimate day, 21-yearold wrestler Aman Sehrawat won us a bronze. It gave some solace after Vinesh’s lost medal. Aman has had a difficult life, having lost both his parents by the age of 11. Wrestling saved him from going astray, gave him a purpose in life. He is giving back to the sport and the country. Those close to him say he rarely smiles. After the medal, post the press conference, while posing for a selfie, he smiled. It went straight to the heart.
There were six fourth-place finishes for India at the Games: Arjun Babuta in men’s 10m air rifle shooting; Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat in mixed team archery; Mirabai Chanu in weightlifting; Anant Jeet Singh & Maheshwari Chauhan in mixed skeet event; Manu Bhaker in women’s 25m pistol and Lakshya Sen in men’s singles badminton. Six medals could have very well been 12. And such is the world of sport.
Reflecting on India’s performance one realized that the city had grown on you. You were reminded of those quick walks out of the competition arenas to enjoy food at the corner café. You were reminded of the volunteers here who made your workplace more comfortable.
You were reminded of the croissants at the Chateauroux station, which simply melted in the mouth. You were also reminded of the smiling, welcoming faces of the Sri Lankan Tamils running the provisional store just next to your rented apartment in Belleville.
It is time to go home now, with a bag full of memories. Au revoir Paris.
