Introducation : Paris

Six Indian wrestlers will take the mat at the Paris 2024 Olympics wrestling competition from August 5 to 11 at the Champ de Mars Arena in the French capital.

Six Indian wrestlers will take the mat at the Paris 2024 Olympics
wrestling competition from August 5 to 11 at the
Champ de Mars Arena in the French capital.

Paris 2024 will mark the 21st edition of the
Olympics featuring Indian wrestlers. Seven Indians
featured at Tokyo 2020 with Ravi Kumar Dahiya (men’s freestyle 57kg)
and Bajrang Punia (men’s freestyle 65kg) bagging
silver and bronze, respectively. Neither have made the cut for Paris.

Two-time Olympian Vinesh Phogat, one of the famed
 Phogat sisters, will compete in the women’s 50kg
category at Paris 2024. She featured in the 48kg
at Rio 2016 and the 53kg at Tokyo 2020.

Antim Panghal, who won a bronze medal at the Asian Games
last year, is set to make her Olympic debut and will
be seen in the women’s 53kg event in Paris.

The 19-year-old Indian wrestler has leapfrogged
Vinesh as India’s top grappler in the category and
secured an Olympic quota in the event by winning the
bronze medal at the World Championships last year.

Commonwealth Games silver medallist Anshu Malik (women’s 57kg),
U-23 world champion Reetika Hooda (women’s 76kg) and
Nisha Dahiya (women’s 68kg), an Asian Championships
silver medallist, are the other Indian wrestlers
who will be making their Olympic debuts in Paris.

Aman Sehrawat, meanwhile, will be the only Indian
men’s freestyle wrestler at Paris 2024. An Asian
champion and Asian Games bronze medallist, the 20-year-old Aman
will take the mat in the men’s freestyle 57kg event.
No Indian Greco-Roman grappler managed to make it to Paris 2024.

India have won seven wrestling medals at
the Olympics – two silver and five bronze medals.

KD Jadhav won the bronze medal in the men’s
freestyle 57kg event at Helsinki 1952. Sushil Kumar
settled for bronze at Beijing 2008 and won silver at
London 2012. Yogeshwar Dutt (men’s freestyle 60kg) and
Sakshi Malik (women’s 58kg) also bagged bronze
medals at London 2012 and Rio 2016, respectively.

• Nisha Dahiya – Women’s 68kg
• Reetika Hooda – Women’s 76kg