The Olympic Games is a crucible spectacle where athletic prowess is refined to perfection. A split-second decision, a mere centimetre, can separate triumph from agony. With the Paris Olympics just weeks away, India eagerly anticipate a double-digit medal haul.
While the world celebrates podium finishes, it is essential to remember the countless athletes who narrowly missed their moments of triumph.
The Bridge looks at the list of Indians who have missed the podium by a whisker:
Randhir Shinde – men’s 54kg freestyle wrestling – 1920 Antwerp Olympics
While everyone knew that KD Jadhav was the first Olympic medallist from India in the individual category in the wrestling event of the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, there was another Indian before Jadhav who narrowly missed out on a medal.
Wrestler Randhir Shinde lost in the bronze medal playoff in the men’s featherweight freestyle division at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. He had defeated Henry Inman of Great Britain and Sam Gerson of the USA en route to the bronze medal playoffs before losing to Philip Bernard of Great Britain.
A fourth-place finish today would’ve given Shinde a bronze medal since two bronze medals were awarded in wrestling at the Olympics.
Keshav Mangave – men’s 62kg freestyle wrestling – 1952 Helsinki Olympics
Keshav Mangave competed in the men’s 62kg freestyle wrestling in the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. After winning the first four rounds, he was defeated by Josiah Henson of the USA. A win would have kept him in the top three positions, increasing his chances of winning a medal. But Keshav Mangave had to settle for a fourth-place finish.
Indian football team – 1956 Melbourne Olympics
Post-independence, Indian football’s foremost priority was to send a competitive team to the 1948 London Olympics.
Under the leadership of the legendary Talimaren Ao, India secured an automatic entry into the London Olympics. India didn’t manage to win a game but made headlines when they showcased beautiful football against France while a majority of the Indians played barefoot. India lost the match 1-2 after Sailen Manna and Mahavir Prasad failed to score from penalties. Sarangapani Raman was independent India’s first goal scorer.
India managed to play in the next three Olympic games from 1952 to 1960.
At the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, the Indian football team, managed by the legendary Syed Abdul Rahim, made it into the history books by becoming the first Asian team to qualify for the semifinals of the Olympic Games. India defeated Australia in the quarterfinals. Failing to beat Yugoslavia in the semifinals and Bulgaria in the bronze medal playoff, India finished fourth in the Games.
Milkha Singh – men’s 400m – 1960 Rome Olympics
One of the most decorated athletes of our country, ‘The Flying Sikh’ after a splendid run at the Tokyo Asian Games, was among the favourites competing in the 400m race at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
Milkha Singh eased past the qualifier round without any troubles. In the quarterfinals, he showed a more promising performance as he improved his previous timings by more than one second.
The semifinals were a tough test for him as he could only manage to finish behind the legendary Otis Davis. With a time of 45.9s, Milkha was the fourth fastest to reach the final. In the final, Milkha kept his pace during the first half and looked certain of a podium finish.
However, an error in judgment after the 250m mark saw him slow down before the final turn, giving Malcolm Spence of South Africa enough time to overtake him and get past him. Spence managed to clinch the bronze medal in 45.5 seconds while Milkha finished 0.1 seconds slower, leading to a photo-finish to decide the winner of third place.
Milkha Singh Narrowly missed out on a bronze medal in a photo-finish by 0.01s (Photo Credits: olympics.com)
Prem Nath – men’s 57kg freestyle wrestling – 1972 Munich Olympics
Earlier the scores in wrestling were calculated by handing penalty points for every loss and the player with the least penalty points would be awarded the medal.
Prem Nath managed to get past the first six rounds but failed to win in the seventh round. Accumulating nine penalty points in total, Prem Nath finished in fourth place, just shy of the medal.
Sudesh Kumar – men’s 52kg freestyle wrestling – 1972 Munich Olympics
Like Prem Nath, Sudesh Kumar’s Munich Games campaign ended in heartbreak. Despite a strong performance, he fell short of a medal, finishing fourth with seven penalty points in the men’s 52kg freestyle wrestling category.
Women’s hockey team – 1980 Moscow Olympics
While the men’s hockey team extended their dream run winning yet another gold medal, the women’s team came agonizingly close to winning a medal during their Olympic debut.
Women’s hockey was introduced in the 1980 Olympics. They defeated Austria and Poland and lost to Czechoslovakia in the early stages. The draw against the dream team of Zimbabwe, who then went on to win the gold medal, and the loss to the Soviet Union dashed India’s medal hopes. They finished fourth.
PT Usha – women’s 400m hurdles – 1984 Los Angeles Olympics
One of the most decorated sportspersons in Indian history, the “Payyoli Express” fell agonizingly short of the bronze medal in the 400m hurdles at the 1984 Los Angeles games. Usha completed the race in 55.42 seconds, finishing fourth and missing out on a bronze medal by a mere hundredth of a second.
Rajinder Singh – men’s 74kg freestyle wrestling – 1984 Los Angeles Olympics
Rajinder Singh was well in contention to be on the podium of the men’s 74kg freestyle wrestling category. He was in second place till the penultimate round. A hard-fought loss to Saban Sejdi in the final round sent Rajinder out of the top three, adding to India’s long list of wrestlers who narrowly missed the podium.
Gurcharan Singh – 2000 Sydney Olympics
Carrying the hopes of a nation at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, light-heavyweight boxer Gurcharan Singh stormed his way to the quarterfinals. However, his Olympic journey ended in a controversial decision that could have swung either way, denying him a medal.
Leander Paes-Mahesh Bhupati – tennis – 2004 Athens Olympics
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati reached the semifinals of the men’s doubles at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Defeating legends like Roger Federer en route to the semifinals, the duo lost to Croatia’s Mario Ančić and Ivan Ljubičić in the bronze medal match and had to settle for fourth place.
Kunjarani Devi – women’s 48kg weightlifting – 2004 Athens Olympics
Competing in the 48kg category at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Kunjarani narrowly missed a podium finish, lifting 190 kg to finish fourth, while Thailand’s Aree Wiratthaworn, secured the bronze medal, lifting 200 kg.
Joydeep Karmakar – men’s 50m rifle prone shooting – 2012 London Olympics
Joydeep didn’t have a perfect start at the 2012 Olympics. Finished seventh in the qualifying, Joydeep climbed up the ranks with each shot but it wasn’t enough for him to end up at the podium as he finished with 699.1 points, placing him right behind the bronze medal winner Raymond Debevec, who scored 701.0.
Abhinav Bindra – men’s 10m air rifle shooting – 2016 Rio Olympics
While all eyes were on Gagan Narang at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Beijing Olympics gold medal-winning ace shooter rose to the occasion, fighting hard for the medal finish. After being tied for third position, it came down to a final shoot-off where Bindra managed to score only a 10 as opposed to 10.5 from Ukraine’s Serhiy Kulish.
Sania Mirza-Rohan Bopanna – mixed doubles tennis – 2016 Rio Olympics
The fourth-seeded Indian pair couldn’t manage to add a medal to the Indian tally as they bowed out in the semifinals to Radek Štěpánek and Lucie Hradecká 6-1, 7-5.
Dipa Karmakar – women’s vault gymnastics – Rio 2016 Olympics
Dipa Karmakar became the first woman gymnast to represent India at the Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil. She was one of the few gymnasts in the world who could perfectly execute the Produnova Vault- also known as the ‘Vault of Death’.
At the Olympics, Dipa managed to finish eighth in the qualifying rounds and booked her tickets to the final, alongside ace American gymnast Simone Biles. On her second and final vault, Dipa decided to go for the Produnova vault and executed it perfectly, scoring 15.066.
However, this score was not enough for her to secure a medal, as she missed the bronze medal by 0.15 points.
Deepa Karmakar at the Rio Olympics (Photo Credits: ET)
Aditi Ashok – women’s golf – Tokyo 2020 Olympics
In her second Olympic appearance, golfer Aditi Ashok stormed the women’s event, consistently placing herself among the top three after the first three rounds. However, a slip in the final round forced her to drop to fourth place. She eventually missed out on a bronze medal by a single, agonizing stroke.
Women’s Hockey Team – 2020 Tokyo Olympics
One of the historical campaigns of the women’s hockey team ended in heartbreak when they narrowly missed out on the bronze medal after losing to Great Britain in the bronze medal match at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
India qualified for the knockouts as the last team from their pool but managed to stun the mighty Australia in the quarterfinals before losing to Argentina in the semifinals.
Deepak Punia – 2020 Tokyo Olympics
The young wrestler, who had lost his mother before the Tokyo 2020 Games, aimed to dedicate a medal to his mother. However, his yearning to achieve a medal narrowly slipped away in a heartbreaking 4-2 defeat to Myles Amine of San Marino in the 86kg freestyle wrestling bronze medal match.