India will be represented by 117 athletes across 16 disciplines at the 2024 Paris Olympics. This contingent features the likes of Rohan Bopanna, Sharath Kamal and PV Sindhu, all of whom have made trips to the Olympics multiple times in the past. Five of the seven medal winners from Tokyo 2020 are in the contingent. However, well over half of Indian athletes will be experiencing an Olympics for the first time this year.

This includes 14-year-old swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu, the youngest Indian in the contingent. Desinghu is the youngest Indian to feature at the Olympics since 1952, when swimmer Aarti Saha competed in Helsinki at the age of 11. Desinghu is also the second youngest Indian of all time at the Olympics.

Desinghu was awarded the Universality quota by the Olympic Games Tripartite Commission alongside the experienced Srihari Nataraj after no Indian attained the A or the B qualification time. Desinghu is set to compete in the women’s 200m freestyle event, featuring her idol and seven-time Olympic gold medallist Katie Ledecky.

Despite her young age, though, Desinghu is no alien to big competitions. She was part of Indian contingent at the delayed 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou last year. She also competed at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha earlier this year.

Senior and junior world champions

Nikhat Zareen may have won back-to-back World Championship gold medals in 2022 and 2023 but it is in Paris where she would be truly seen as stepping out of Mary Kom's shadow as potentially the face of Indian boxing. Her transition to the 50kg weight category, to say aligned with the Olympic programme, was seamless and she is one India's biggest medal contenders in Paris.

While Nikhat is the boxing world champ in fray, there are a couple of junior world champions in wrestling who will be looking for a medal. 19-year-old Antim Panghal became the first Indian woman to win gold at the Junior World Wrestling Championships in 2022 and then defended the title in 2023. At the senior level, she has won a bronze medal at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships, a bronze at the 2022 Asian Games, and a silver at the 2023 Asian Wrestling Championships. All before turning 20.

Reetika is the first Indian woman to qualify in the women's 76kg weight class. She is the first to win under-23 world championships title and a ranking series medal in her weight class as well. She is looking to emulate her idol Sakshi Malik's stunning medal-win at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Some seasoned stars

Kishore Kumar Jena did the unthinkable and gave Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra a good fight at the Asian Games. He won silver there with a personal best throw of 87.54m, making him a genuine medal contender in men's javelin to the point that there could be two Indians on the podium in this event in Paris. India's fastest hurdler Jyothi Yarraji and steeplechaser Parul Chaudhary are other debutants whon have an outside shout at doing something special in Paris.

Lakshya Sen had been earmarked for greatness since his teenage years and he is in the fray in men's singles along with the higher-ranked HS Prannoy. Lakshya has won a bronze medal at the World Championships in 2021, a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games and was also part of the Indian team that won the Thomas Cup in 2022.