Paris Olympics: From Neeraj Chopra to Mirabai Chanu, a look at India's top medal hopes

The Paris Olympics are fast approaching and we're just a couple of weeks from the start of the world's biggest sporting event. Over 100 Indian athletes will try to achieve Olympic glory and there are some big names, who have been winning major tournaments worldwide over the past few years fans have high hopes that they will end up on the Olympic podium this time around with few repeating the glory of Tokyo 2020. So let's take a look at India's top medal hopes in the Paris Olympics.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty - Badminton

Satwik and Chirag haven't competed since the Singapore Open, where they lost in the first round. This has also affected their ranking as they dropped to world no. 3 from the top spot. In the previous Olympics, the pair came close to securing a spot in the quarterfinals, having won two out of their three group-stage matches. However, they fell short of advancing further in the competition. They have won many major tournaments recently and will be among the top-seeded men's doubles pair during the Paris Olympics.

Vinesh Phogat - Wrestling

In 2018, Vinesh Phogat became the first Indian women's wrestler to win the gold medal during the Asian Games. She also won gold medal during Commonwealth Games 2014, 2018 and 2022. Just ahead of the Paris Olympics, Vinesh Phogat won the Grand Prix of Spain and she will be heading to the Olympics with a big tournament victory under her name. India will hope that Vinesh maintains her golden run and wins her first medal during the premier sporting event.

Neeraj Chopra - Javelin Throw

Neeraj Chopra, an outstanding javelin athlete, will aim to create a historic achievement as the first Indian athlete to win consecutive gold medals.

Chopra's most recent competition was at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, Finland, on 18 June. He seized the gold medal with a top throw of 85.97m. The Paris Diamond League happening this week is not included in his schedule, so he will only compete next at the Olympics and will be eyeing for another Gold.

Men's hockey team

The final squad selected by head coach Craig Fulton will soon depart for Paris. Harmanpreet Singh will captain the team as anticipated, while PR Sreejesh will be the sole goalkeeper in the squad. The men's hockey team had an outstanding run during Tokyo 2020 and went on to clinch the historic Bronze medal. They would be hoping to better the result this time around.

Aditi Ashok - Golf

Aditi will represent India for the third time at the Olympics. she'll be hoping to repeat her Tokyo heroics and also go a step further in terms of clinching a medal as she finished at the fourth spot last time around.

Nikhat Zareen - Boxing

Nikhat, who has already won two world championships, will strive for even more success in Paris as she competes in her first Olympics. Currently, Nikhat is training along with five other boxers for a month at the Olympic Centre in Saarbrucken, Germany. She plans to stay until July 22 and then travel to Paris.

Mirabai Chanu - Weightlifting

Mirabai Chanu will aim to secure another spot on the Olympic podium in Paris, following her outstanding performance in Tokyo which resulted in a silver medal. She is expected to be a top contender in her category in Paris.

Sift Kaur Samra - Shooting

Sift Kaur Samra, the gold medallist at the Asian Games, earned a spot on the Paris team for the women's 50m rifle 3 positions event due to her exceptional performance in the four-stage Olympic selection trials. She competed at the Munich World Cup last month and claimed the bronze medal, narrowly losing out on silver to Han Jiayu of China by just 0.1 point. She will be India's top medal hope from the Shooting contingent for the Paris Olympics.

India finished at the 48th spot during Tokyo 2020 and won 1 gold, 2 silver and 4 Bronze medals and this time around, the fans would expect even better performance from their athletes.