Countdown to Tokyo Olympics – Can India reach double figures?

Being a sports enthusiast, I must admit that I have written very little about Indian sports other than cricket. Being a cricket fanatic that’s quite expected but I do regret that I do not write more often about other sports especially when I do follow some of them. 

Many years back, 2012 to be exact, I wrote one of my earliest pieces in this blog and that was about the London Olympics. It was written one day before the opening ceremony and I am quite proud to say that I predicted correctly the number of medals that India could win that year. I predicted that we will win 6 medals and that’s exactly the number of medals we won eventually.

The high of the 2012 London Olympics couldn’t be sustained unfortunately by India at the Rio Olympics of 2016. We won only 2 medals, one by PV Sindhu (Silver) in Badminton and the other by Sakshi Malik (Bronze) in wrestling.

India had sent a strong contingent of 117 athletes (which was the highest ever from India) but came back with only 2 medals. It was a disappointment. But, India as a nation is obsessed with cricket so I don’t think we should be highly critical of these athletes because they do not get the kind of support that our cricketers get from the public as well as the sponsors. So hats off to each of them for fighting hard and trying their best for bringing glory to the nation.

Covid-19 led to an unprecedented situation with the Tokyo Games being postponed in 2020. Finally, it’s scheduled to start on 24th July 2021 – a good one year later. But, Covid-19 is still a reality, and hence for the first time, ever Olympics will be held behind closed doors with no spectators around. That straightaway takes the thrill out of the games. A buzzing stadium not only gets the athletes pumped up but also makes the TV viewers feel that they are inside the complex. But these are tough times and we should consider ourselves lucky that we will be able to see the Olympics be it, sans spectators.

So what are India’s chances this year? Will India be able to break her own record of 6 medals this time around? Let’s get into the details followed by my predictions.

India is sending around 126 athletes to Tokyo this year making it the largest contingent ever.

The disciplines along with the number of participants (in brackets) are given below along with my prediction on medals that India might win:

Athletics (26) – 1

Archery (4)

Badminton (4) – 1

Boxing (9) – 1

Equestrian (1)

Fencing (1)

Golf (3)

Gymnastics (1)

Hockey (Men’s) (16)

Hockey (Women’s) (16)

Judo (1)

Rowing (2)

Sailing (4)

Shooting (15) – 5

Swimming (3)

Table Tennis (4)

Tennis (2)

Weightlifting (1) – 1

Wrestling (7) – 2

As you can see from the above, I am expecting 11 medals this year with Shooting being our brightest hope. Many of our shooters are at the top of their game over the last couple of years and their performance would finally decide how many medals India end up with.

For the first time, India is participating in 19 different disciplines in the Olympics which shows that we are improving but to get Medals consistently one needs to have a bit more patience. 

Anything less than 10 would be a slight disappointment and I hope we meet up to the expectations this year. With the crowd not being there, it can work in India’s favour because that external pressure won’t be there which gets built up during the medal rounds.

The games begin in 12 days. I will be doing some detailed analysis over the next few days on some of the disciplines where India is expected to do well. Do join in the conversation with your views and opinions.

Will you be watching the Tokyo Olympics? How many medals will India win this time? What do you think?