India Sends 117 Athletes to Paris Olympics, Minus Shot Putter Abha Khatua

India will be represented by 117 athletes at the Paris Olympics with support from 140 staff members. Notably, shot putter Abha Khatua has been excluded without explanation. The contingent also includes a significant number of support personnel approved by the government to meet athletes' requirements.

India will be represented by 117 athletes at this month's Paris Olympics after the sports ministry cleared the final contingent, including 140 support staff and officials. Of these, 72 have been approved at the cost to the Government to meet the requirements of the traveling sportspersons.

The only qualified athlete missing from the list is shot putter Abha Khatua. Although she qualified through the world rankings quota, Khatua was dropped without explanation after her name was missing from the World Athletics' list of Olympic participants a few days ago.

The permissible limit for the stay of support personnel in the Games Village against accreditation, as per the norms of the Paris Organising Committee for the 2024 Olympic Games, is 67, including 11 IOA Contingent Officials, which includes five Medical Team Members. To cater to the athletes' requirements, additional coaches and other support staff numbering 72 have been approved at the cost to the Government, and arrangements for their stay have been made in hotels or locations outside the Games Village.

Athletics will nonetheless make up the biggest group in the contingent with 29 names (11 women and 18 men), followed by shooting (21) and hockey (19). Table tennis will be represented by eight players, while badminton will feature seven competitors, including two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu. Wrestling, archery, and boxing will each have six representatives, followed by golf (4), tennis (3), swimming (2), sailing (2), and one each for equestrian, judo, rowing, and weightlifting. In the Tokyo Olympics, India was represented by a 119-member contingent, returning with its best-ever haul of seven medals, including the historic javelin throw gold by Neeraj Chopra.

(With inputs from agencies.)