Paris [France], July 26 : Ahead of the Paris Olympics 2024, which are set to begin on Friday, Indian swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu expressed her feelings about her maiden participation in the biggest sporting event of the world.
"Excited to be racing on Sunday... I'll be swimming 200 freestyle and there are a lot of amazing athletes who will also be racing in the event. I'm super excited to see what I can do. I'm just trying to focus on giving my best... I know that this is not my last Olympics, so there's a long way to go. I'm just excited and having fun at the moment...," Desinghu told ANI.
The other swimmer, Srihari Nataraj, who is taking part in his only second Olympics, also shared his thoughts on participating in the tournament.
"I'm quite calm at this point. I still have a couple of days to go. It's exciting to be here in the Olympic village. It's a dream for every athlete to go to one Olympics, and I'm here and taking part in my second, so it feels great. I'm looking forward to racing... Even last time, I was quite composed and ready to compete. The biggest change is that I'm a much more mature swimmer. What that means is that I've understood the sport a lot better in the past few years, and I've understood myself and my body and how it works a lot better. So I think that's the biggest change from the past 3-4 years...," Nataraj said.
Badminton star PV Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medalist, and table tennis veteran Sharath Kamal, set to feature in his fifth Olympics, will lead the Indian contingent at the Paris 2024 Parade of Nations.
Both will become the first athletes from their respective sports to be India's flag-bearers at such a big event
A 29-member athletics team led by Neeraj Chopra forms a large chunk of the contingent that will be travelling to France for the Olympics. There will also be a 21-member-strong shooting contingent, which will be the second-largest team sent by India for any sport at Paris 2024. This is the biggest shooting team India has sent in its Olympic history, with 15 shooters sent during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, as per Olympics.com.
The archers competing in Paris include stars like Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai. They will be competing in the individual ranking rounds on July 25 and will be the first Indians in action prior to the opening ceremony scheduled for the next day.
India will be getting their first shot at a medal during the mixed team air rifle medal matches scheduled for July 27 at the National Shooting Centre in Chateauroux. Two Indian teams, Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan and Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal, will be competing in this event. Manu Bhaker will compete in two individual pistol events and the 10 m air pistol mixed team competition as well.
The star of the show, the reigning Olympic and World champion javelin thrower, Neeraj Chopra, will be in action in August. The qualifiers for the men's javelin throw event will take place on July 6 and the final will take place two days later. Two-time Olympic medalist PV Sindhu will be aiming to make it a hat-trick of medals during badminton events scheduled from July 27 to August 5.
Tokyo 2020 silver medalist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu will be in action in the women's 49 kg category competition scheduled for August 7, the release added.
Lovlina Borgohain, who secured a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics, will be in action during the boxing events starting on July 27 and concluding on August 10. Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen is all set to make her Olympic debut as a huge medal prospect for Team India.
The 16 sports India will be competing in during Paris 2024 are: archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, equestrian, golf, hockey, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis and tennis.
The Olympics will conclude on August 11. India will look to outdo its tally of seven medals from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which included a gold, two silver, and four bronze medals.
Indian viewers can watch the premier sports event on the Sports18 1 SD and Sports18 1 HD TV channels. Live streaming of the Paris 2024 Olympics will be available on Jio Cinema for free, as per Olympics.com.
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