Neeraj Chopra’s first Olympic gold medal in athletics from Tokyo 2020 is the one major difference that has occurred: athletes now dare to dream and, more crucially, are confidence in their ability to win them. Chopra’s gold medal in the men’s javelin throw, the first ever won by an Indian athlete in the Olympics, spurred other athletes to start aiming high, which led to the transformation of Indian athletics.

With a renewed sense of self-assurance, Indian athletes will head to the Olympic Games in Paris with the goal of building on the success of Chopra’s maiden gold medal and winning additional medals to realize their objective of making their 1.4 billion-person nation a formidable force in the world of athletics.

Many people are likely to write off Indian athletes’ aspirations to dominate track and field events at the highest level as unrealistic, given that they have only won one gold medal in more than 100 years of Olympic competition – the two silver medals won by Englishman Norman Pritchard in 1900 in Paris are the only medals that Indian athletes have won.

Adille Sumariwalla and other supporters of Indian athletics, however, contend that the country has advanced significantly in athletics since Tokyo. This was never more evident than in the 2023 World Championship in Budapest, where three Indians were among the top 10 in the men’s javelin throw. Additionally, it’s clear from the fact that the athletics team is the largest in the Indian Contingent.

According to Sumariwalla, the Indian team would perform with noticeable and noticeable progress even if they don’t take home any medals from the Olympics in Paris. There will be the greatest number of athletes representing the nation at the quadrennial Games -29 – at the Olympic Games in Paris.

And leading India’s campaign in Paris will be none other than Neeraj Chopra, who is expected to win both the gold and silver medals at the Olympics. Chopra has won gold in the Diamond League Final in 2023, silver and gold in the World Championships, and gold in the Asian Games in Hangzhou since the Tokyo Olympics.

However, the 26-year-old Chopra has also battled injuries that have slowed his development and forced him to bide his time till the moment he would surpass the 90-meter mark. Chopra threw his season’s best of 88.88 meters in Hangzhou, China, in October 2023, after setting a personal best of 89.94 meters in Stockholm in 2022. After recovering from a minor illness, he traveled to Paris and competed solely in the Paavo Nurmi Games 2024 in Turku, Finland, where he took home the gold with a moderate throw of 85.97 meters.

In addition to Chopra, Kishore Kumar Jena will be a big hope for India in the men’s javelin throw. With a personal best of 87.54 meters, the athlete from Odisha finished second behind Chopra in Hangzhou, earning a silver medal.

Along with Asian record-holder Tajinderpal Singh Toor, the shot putter, and the men’s 4x400m relay team, who had given the United States a run for their money in the heats at the World Relays 2024 in the Bahamas, Avinash Sable, the national record holder in men’s 3000m steeplechase, is another athlete from whom the nation has high hopes.

Given that four race walkers – two in each of the men’s and women’s categories—have qualified for both the men’s and women’s divisions, India is also anticipating strong results from these athletes.