​Single digits: on India at the Olympics 

India’s return of six medals from the just-concluded Paris Olympics can be termed underwhelming at best. The nation secured one silver and five bronze medals, down from seven at Tokyo 2020 that included a gold and two silvers. At a time when the country is looking to diversify its sporting excellence, has found exuberant support from the government and big corporates, and was aiming for a double-digit medal yield, the Olympic fortnight belied expectations. There were indeed new heroes — shooters Manu Bhaker, Sarabjot Singh and Swapnil Kusale, and wrestler Aman Sehrawat are now household names. The men’s hockey team finishing on the podium for a second straight time and Neeraj Chopra adding a silver to his historic javelin gold from Tokyo are top-notch efforts. But the dependence on a select few to repeatedly deliver, the near-zero presence in disciplines such as swimming and gymnastics, and wrestler Vinesh Phogat being disqualified for being above the weight threshold cast a dark shadow. The need of the hour is thus to broaden the base, increase participation and distribute funding more equitably to usher in a grass-roots revolution. The onus is also on the Union Sports Ministry to bring errant federations — often dens of nepotism and corruption — in line with the National Sports Code, fix accountability and decentralise governance.

As much as the Olympics is about winning and the shaping of national identities, it is also the greatest stage on earth to showcase the triumph of human will. This was best exemplified by the Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan, the first since Emil Zatopek in 1952 to collect medals in 5,000m, 10,000m and marathon, Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, the first woman to win three consecutive 1,500m titles, Cuba’s Mijain Lopez, who won a fifth individual gold on the trot in 130kg Greco-Roman wrestling, Novak Djokovic, who at 37 and with a surgically repaired knee, won the elusive singles gold in tennis, and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who braved incendiary attacks on her gender to rise to the top. Sweden’s Armand Duplantis broke the men’s pole vault record for an astonishing ninth time (6.25m) while swimmer Katie Ledecky, gymnast Simone Biles and hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone achieved transcendence by stretching their numbers to nine, seven and four Olympic golds, respectively. France did well as a host, winning 16 golds, its best figures in a century. The star was 22-year-old swimmer Leon Marchand, who bagged four golds to position himself as the best of this generation. Athletics, in the post-Usain Bolt era, was on the lookout for one such champion, but as Paris proved, that is a tough act to follow.