Tokyo Olympics 2020 silver medalist, Mirabai Chanu is unlikely to feature in the Paris Olympics 2024. Paris will be hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics from 26 July 2024 to 11 August 2024.

Read also: Silver Medalist Mirabai Chanu stand a chance to win gold

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board has revised its policies and they have the power of expunging a few sports from the Olympic program. The IOC can now take the decisions of removal of any sports if the decisions made by its governing body clash with that of the Olympic body's executive board. They can target those sports if it "acts in a manner likely to tarnish the reputation of the Olympic movement".

The sports certainly targeted are weightlifting and boxing. Weightlifting is targeted because of its long-term doping instances and governance problems.

The IOC executive board and governing bodies will implement the decisions. But the athletes will have to face setbacks. Especially for a country like India, it's a huge loss and disappointing. There are many Indian aspiring athletes that have the ability to bring medals in weightlifting and boxing and they might lose their chances. Due to such decisions by the IOC, the participation of Mirabai Chanu in the Paris Olympics 2024 is uncertain.

This year in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, India won two medals in weightlifting and boxing. Mirabai Chanu clinched the silver home in weightlifting while Lovina Borgohain brought the bronze home in boxing.

It's only a matter of time to see if the IOC amends their rules and ticks off weightlifting from the 2024 Paris Olympics.

State of Boxing:

Also, the IOC will look into boxing at the Tokyo Olympics and its amelioration under the realm of AIBA and its president Umar Kremlev. They need to look into it thoroughly before making a decision on the continuation of boxing in the Olympics.

On Tuesday, the organizers of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026 confirmed that only 10 sports will be played in limited venues to keep the finances in check. 

A previously proposed event, that had a minimum of 20 disciplines was reduced to half, which has sparked disappointments amongst many Indians. The reason is quite simple. The Indian-dominated sports like badminton, hockey, cricket, and weightlifting have been axed. 

Not only that, a sport like squash, which gets major highlights in the CWG due to its absence in the Olympics, has been eliminated.

The IOA (Indian Olympics Association) president, PT Usha, too expressed her despondency towards the decision. But, why? 

The point is, how relevant are "Commonwealth Games," previously known as "British Empire Games," in a decolonized era?

The Idea behind Commonwealth Games

A brainchild of revered Canadian sportswriter and editor Melville Marks Robinson, the Commonwealth Games had its origin in 1930, bearing an essence of still-accepted colonialism. A total of 54 countries, who were once colonies of the British Empire, participated in this event.

The 2022 version, however, saw 72 nations participating.

Inspired by the 1911 Inter Empire Championships, this unique event has been hosted across nine countries. Australia and Canada lead with five editions each. 

Standing in 2024, when the phrase "third-world country" seems nonexistent, who would ever succumb to the pre-established boot-licking attitude toward the English, that too spending some billion dollars for hosting?

Finance definitely raises eyebrows, but the motto it has been carrying for so long should come into question, even in countries like India.

U-turn from Australia to Glasgow

Australia, a country that has hosted the event at least five times, has denied hosting it. Initially, it was Victoria's assignment to conduct the event. However, the arrangement costs skyrocketed from an estimated Aus$2 billion to an alarming Aus$7 billion.

Premier Daniel Andrews, in the press conference in Melbourne, clearly stated that he would never dare to pluck in a huge sum from the funds of hospitals and schools for a sporting event. 

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) scrambled to find a replacement, offering Malaysia £100 million to step in. Even with such a hefty financial contribution, Malaysia turned down the offer, citing insufficient preparation time and the prohibitive costs of hosting the event.

Even Canada's Alberta province last year withdrew its support for a bid for the 2030 Games.

Financial Suffering

The rejections have somehow brought in a raw, uncut picture to the world. The sentiments, accompanied by the suffering, take a long time to recover.

Countries are unwilling to foot the massive bill for an event, even when provided with financial assistance. The event brings in little to no economic return and dwindling global interest.

The Commonwealth Games, which seemed like a prestigious event, has been a burden — a relic of the past whose significance is diminishing in a world with far more pressing priorities.

Glasgow steps in

Following the repeated rejections, there was a point when the Commonwealth Games future looked uncertain for the 2026 version. Countries backing out brought clouds of a postponed tournament before its centenary year in 2030.

At that point, Glasgow stepped in. Glasgow had its experience of hosting a CWG, as it did in 2014. This time, it made the event easy.

Glasgow decided to host a severely pared-down version of the CWG in 2026, with 4 venues in an 8-mile radius. Not only that, the number of participants will also be restricted.

Birmingham's Commonwealth Games: A Legacy of Financial Strain?

Birmingham stepped up to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games when Durban withdrew, promising a grand event to boost the city. However, financial issues soon arose, leading to political tension and public concern.

Max Caller, former adviser to Birmingham City Council, called the decision to host the Games "a mistake" amidst longstanding financial problems. Hosting the event diverted attention from the council’s critical issues, including a £760 million bill for equal pay claims and a botched IT system that may cost £100 million to fix.

While the Games were an "amazing event," their financial aftermath sparked debates, with citizens worried about budget cuts affecting essential services. Community centres, libraries, and even the famed German Christmas Market could face closures as the council struggles with bankruptcy.

But is finance the real concern?

India had hosted the 2010 CWG, followed by financial turmoil in the country. It took years for the country to overcome. India has now successfully bid for the Olympics 2036. 

Hosting the Olympics has also led to never-ending financial scars for many countries. Athens is a prominent name in that. 

But yet, countries hardly step back to host it. Is it really the finances or the pride that pushes them to bid for the Olympics?

Will India suffer from the reduction?

In the idealistic world of sport, India shouldn't. In such a situation, the question comes: how relevant is CWG to the sporting world? 

With the rising popularity of the Asian Games that have dominated countries like China and the Olympics, which is the oldest and largest form of multidisciplinary sports event, CWG falls short in both glamour and relevance.

The limited exposure giving year-old consolation to the country with an "international medal" has been falling short repeatedly in the Olympics. The count of CWG medalist athletes who have earned a medal in the Olympics is relatively low. A Mirabai Chanu, a PV Sindhu, or a Neeraj Chopra is countable. 

When at one corner, it is justified to be upset knowing that Indian dominance has been restricted, then at the other corner, another question gets tossed—why does India need going-to-be-abolished events to prove its excellence? 

India, which takes pride in being a sporting excellence and a country that tried to push cricket hard in the Olympics, should think if it's really dominant or not.

Does Commonwealth participation assure greatness?

Usain Bolt, at his peak point in his career, decided to participate only in the 4x100m relay in Glasgow (2014). Not only that, he was nowhere in New Delhi (2010) too, despite India's desperate request to have him.

Sir Chris Hoy, too, stayed away from the Delhi games because a win wouldn't have added any decorated feather to his already stellar career.

In the harshest reality, a hundred medals won't assure at least 50 medals in the Asian Games itself. Olympics are out of reach!

Medal tally for India in CWG, in its popular sport

After the Paris Olympics 2024, now Paris Paralympics is going to start from 28th August. The 84 contingent will compete for India at Paralympics 2024 which will run till September 8. This time Indian athletes are participating in 12 sports. This is India's largest contingent so far in the Paralympics. Bhagyashree Jadhav and Sumit Antil will be India's flag bearers.

So before the start of the games, let's take a look at the medals India won at the Paralympics so far.

Also Read: India's largest contingent to compete in Paris Paralympics 2024

India won 31 Paralympic medals so far

The Paralympic Games started in 1960. India sent an Indian contingent for the first time in 1968. The Paralympic Games started for India long after the Summer Olympics. Despite this, the country has so far won 31 medals in the Paralympics, including 9 gold, 12 silver and 10 bronze medals. India has participated in 11 editions so far.

India got 19 medals in Tokyo Paralympics

54 athletes had participated in the Tokyo Paralympics and won a maximum of 19 medals which included 5 gold, 8 silver, and 6 bronze medals. Out of a total of 162 nations, India had finished 24th in the overall medal tally at Tokyo, while its accomplishment of 19 medals is ranked 20th based on the number of medals.

Murlikant Petkar won the first medal

Murlikant Petkar, the hero of the 1965 Indo-Pak war, is India's first Paralympic medal winner. Murlikant Petkar won the gold medal in swimming in the Men's 50m Freestyle 3 event at the 1972 Heidelberg Games.

Petkar, a soldier of the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME) in the Indian Army, was a boxer. He became paralyzed after being shot during the India-Pakistan war of 1965. After this, he started swimming. In 2018, he was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award.

Joginder Singh Bedi captured 3 medals

In the 1984 Paralympics, Bhimrao Kesarkar won the silver medal in men's javelin throw L6 with a throw of 34.55m. While Joginder Singh Bedi had won silver medal in Men's Shotput L6, a bronze medal in Men's Javelin Throw L6 event, and bronze medal in Men's Discus Throw L6 event.

India at Paralympics 2004

India has participated in every Paralympic Games since 1984, but the next medal came in the 2004 Paralympics in Athens. Devendra Jhajharia won the gold medal in the men's javelin throw F44/46 event. At the same time, Indian powerlifter Rajinder Singh Rahelu won the bronze medal in the men's 56 kg weight category by lifting 157.5 kg. 

In London 2012, High jumper Girisha N Gowda won the silver medal for India. 

Also Read: Largest refugee team set to compete at Paris Paralympics

India at Paralympics 2016

Tamil Nadu's Mariyappan Thangavelu won the gold medal in the men's high jump F42 event at the Rio 2016 Paralympics. He had jumped 1.89m. At the same time, Varun Singh Bhati won the bronze medal in the high jump competition. 

Avani Lekhara creates history

Avani Lekhara won the gold medal in her first Paralympics. She set a new Paralympic record of 249.6 in the women's 10m air rifle shooting standing SH1 final in Tokyo. With this, Avani became the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold medal.

India at Paralympics: India's Medals so far

PR Sreejesh, the legendary former Indian hockey goalkeeper expressed his admiration for former India cricket coach Rahul Dravid’s coaching philosophy and is hoping to follow a similar path in mentoring the next generation of hockey players, keeping the 2036 Olympics in mind. Sreejesh wants to work closely with the country's junior and emerging talents. He aims to groom the future stars of Indian hockey just like Dravid did with the Under 19 players.

Read Also: India at Olympics: Every member of the medal-winning hockey teams

Rahul Dravid's journey began with nurturing India’s U-19 and A team players before leading the senior side. Sreejesh wants to play a similar role within the hockey setup.

"I want to become a coach. That was always my plan but now there is a question of when. After retirement, family comes first. I need to talk with them if they are OK with this. Now you have to listen to your wife a little bit," Sreejesh told PTI.

"The way I wanted is start with the juniors, and Rahul Dravid is an example. It's like you develop a bunch of players, get them into the senior team, and let them follow you," he said.

Sreejesh wants to transform Indian Hockey setup into the World's best side before the 2036 Olympics

Sreejesh wants to start at the grassroots level, working his way up to the position of chief national coach by the time the 2032 Brisbane Olympics arrive. Sreejesh believes that the Indian Hockey setup can rule the world once again like they did in the 50's and 60's.

"I start this year, next in 2025, we have the junior World Cup and in another two years, the senior team will be playing the World Cup. So maybe, by 2028, I can produce 20 or 40 players and by 2029, I can have 15-20 players into the senior team, and by 2030 almost like 30-35 players in the senior side. And 2032, I will be ready for the chief coach's position. If India gets to host the 2036 Olympic Games, I want to be the India coach," Sreejesh concluded.

The former goalkeeper played a crucial role in India's bronze medal win at the recently-concluded Olympics in Paris. He was also a part of the team that won bronze in the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.

It was in the javelin throw that the rivalry between India's Neeraj Chopra and Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem came out onto the Olympic stage at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. Neeraj won gold and Arshad couldn't medal in Tokyo, but both athletes dominated the field in Paris and the latter shattered the Olympic record to take gold. Neeraj could only get to silver but with his season-best throw. Neeraj would've had to throw more than 90m to win the gold. By winning the gold in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Neeraj had joined shooter Abhinav Bindra as the only two Indians to have won an Olympic gold medal in an individual event. Bindra feels that winning back-to-back medals at the Olympics is an “Incredible feat”.

Read Also: Some major controversies of the Paris Olympics 2024

“I think we are all very proud of him. The Pakistani (Arshad Nadeem) is a worthy winner on the day, the way he performed. But I think Neeraj should be proud of himself,” Bindra said in an interview with The Indian Express. 

“There will be a level of disappointment, which is fine because that’s how the life of an athlete is. You’re not gonna get everything going your way, but he performed admirably. A lot of expectations were also on him. It’s not easy to be in that spot, but he delivered. Now, he can go back to the drawing board and reassess what needs to be done. Really work on how he can make the big leap,” said Bindra. 

‘Olympics is a platform which is imperfect for performance,’ Abhinav Bindra in an interview

Abhinav Bindra thinks that the Olympics is an imperfect platform for athletes to put in their best performance as there are so many things moving around it. “The Olympics is a very, very hard platform to perform at for a variety of reasons. But the Olympics is also a platform that is imperfect for performance. Because there are external expectations, and you also have internal expectations, that just doesn’t allow you to let go,” said Bindra. 

Read Also: India at Olympics: India's medals at the Olympics by sports

Arshad Nadeem threw 92.97m to win the gold while Neeraj could manage to throw 89.45m. He hasn't been able to get past that 90m mark and he will be desperate to do that in the coming years. The 2008 Gold medallist Bindra said that it's not easy for the athletes to put in their best performance over and over again at the Olympics. 

“Performance sometimes is almost artistic. That’s where you almost have to allow it to happen. And the ability to let go is very difficult. So skill is almost thrown into the dustbin. Sometimes for most athletes, there will be a few who are just so great, but for a majority, it’s not just picking up your skill and trying to get things together. You have to almost find perfection on that imperfect day,” he concluded. 

The Olympic Games bring together thousands of athletes from multiple sports disciplines every four years, but only a few return home with a medal. Winning an Olympic medal is the greatest achievement a professional athlete can achieve in his career and, as you can imagine, winning a good handful of them is something that exceeds anyone's expectations. In this article, we will discuss the Olympic facts about athletes who have the most consecutive Olympic gold medals.

Also Read: Olympic Facts: From Youngest to Oldest to most successful medalists and more

Olympic Facts: Most Consecutive Olympic Gold Medals

7. Paul Elvstrøm (Sailing) | 4 

Danish yachtsman, Paul Elvstrøm, who is considered the greatest sailor in Olympic history, dominated Finn-class sailing between 1948 and 1960. He is one of only three Olympians to win the same individual event four times in a row. Elvstrøm is also one of only four athletes to compete in eight or more editions of the Games. He was the first Olympic athlete to take individual golds in four consecutive Games.

Elvstrøm won the Firefly sailing class in 1948. This class evolved into the Finn monotype class, which Elvstrøm then won in 1952, 1956, and 1960. After being a reserve on the Danish team in 1964, he competed in 1968 and 1972. Although he did not win a medal, he did place fourth in the 1968 Star class competition.

6. Alfred Oerter (Discus Throw) | 4

An Olympic legend, American discus thrower Alfred Oerter was the first track and field athlete to win four successive Olympic titles, a feat since equaled only by Carl Lewis in the long jump.

Oerter took the four consecutive Olympic gold medals in the discus in 1956, 1960, 1964, and 1968, setting a new Olympic record on each occasion, although he was never the favorite to win the event. His third victory in 1964 was remarkable for the fact that he overcame the handicap of neck and rib injuries, but still managed to set a career best.

Oerter retired after the Olympic Games of 1968 but returned to full-time competition in 1977 with the goal of making the 1980 Olympic Games and winning a fifth gold medal. His comeback was derailed by the 1980 Olympic boycott by the United States, but Oerter did post the longest throw in the world in 1980.

5. Carl Lewis (Long Jump) | 4

American former track and field athlete, Carl Lewis won four consecutive gold medals in the long jump at Los Angeles in 1984, Seoul in 1988, Barcelona in 1992, and Atlanta in 1996. 

Making his Olympic debut at the age of 23, Lewis won 10 medals, including eight golds, at the World Outdoor Championships. He is one of two athletes (the other being Paavo Nurmi) to win nine Olympic gold medals. Similarly, he is one of two (the other being Al Oerter) to win four golds in the same event. Lewis is now a full-time assistant coach at the University of Houston.

Also Read: 8 unbreakable Olympic records: Bolt, Phelps, Kim and more

4. Kaori Icho (Wrestling) | 4

Japanese freestyle wrestler Kaori Icho is the first female wrestler to win four consecutive Olympic gold medals, having won the event in 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016. Icho is also the first woman to win an individual gold medal in four straight Olympics, having started her historic run at the inaugural women's tournament in Athens in 2004. Multiple men have accomplished that feat, including American swimmer Michael Phelps.

Over the years, Icho had been a linchpin for Japan's historically dominant women's wrestling team. Ever since women's divisions were added to the Olympic wrestling program in 2004, she had earned gold in her weight class. In addition to her Olympic hardware, Icho has accrued 10 world titles and won 189 consecutive matches over a 13-year period from 2003-2016.

3. Katie Ledecky (Swimming) | 4

After winning the 800m freestyle event at the Paris 2024 Games, Katie Ledecky became the seventh Olympian to win four consecutive gold medals in the same event, and the second swimmer after Michael Phelps (who won the 200 IM in four consecutive Olympiads).

At the Paris 2024, Ledecky won her ninth gold medal and more deeply etched her name into the Olympic annals. She is now the most decorated female Olympian from the United States. Ledecky also ties with Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina for most Olympic gold medals won by a woman. Latynina won nine golds between 1956-1964.

2. Michael Phelps (Swimming) | 4

Michael Phelps is the first sportsperson to win four consecutive Olympic gold medals in the same event. He is an American former elite swimmer and the most successful and decorated Olympian of all time, with a total of 28 medals. He has an all-time high for Olympic gold medals (23), Olympic gold medals at individual events (13), and Olympic medals at individual events (16). 

When Phelps won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, he smashed Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at a single Olympic Games. At the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, Phelps won six gold and two bronze medals for a total of eight medals of any color at one of the Events. He won four gold and two silver medals at the 2012 London Summer Olympics and five gold and one silver medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics.

Also Read: Top 10 athletes in the world with the most Olympic medals

1. Mijain Lopez (Wrestling) | 5 

Cuban great Mijain Lopez became the first athlete in history to win the most consecutive Olympic gold medals. He won the title in the Olympic event five times.

Superstar of Greco-Roman wrestling and already crowned Olympic champion in the 130kg class in 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2021, Cuban Mijain Lopez has pulled off an unprecedented tour de force. By winning (6-0) his bout against Chile's Yasmani Acosta Fernandez in the Paris Olympics 2024 final, the wrestler validated his domination of the Olympic event for the fifth consecutive edition. A feat that no other wrestler has achieved in any discipline.

At the last Olympics, Lopez became the first male wrestler to win four Olympic gold medals when he dominated in the Tokyo Olympics, blowing through the field unscored upon in four matches. He gave up two points in four matches this time.