Thursday 28 / November / 2024
Los Angeles: The Olympic flag arrived in Los Angeles, the venue for the next edition of the multi-sport extravaganza in 2028, following the conclusion of the highly successful, action-filled Paris Olympics on Sunday.
The Olympic Games's official X handle on Tuesday announced the arrival of the flag to LA. Along with the flag were some members of the USA's Paris Olympics contingent.
"The Olympic Flag has arrived in Los Angeles! #LA28@LA28," tweeted the Olympic Games.
The Paris Olympics 2024 came to an end with the closing ceremony at Stade de France in Paris. The spectacle witnessed the hosts of the current edition, Paris, pass over the reigns to Los Angeles, the site of the next edition of the Olympic Games in 2028. Californian singer H.E.R. performed the national anthem of the United States during the LA28 handover, while Tom Cruise executed a rappelling stunt. Among the other performers were the multi-time Grammy Award-winning pop sensation Billie Eilish and the American Hip-Hop music duo of Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre.
USA ended the Paris Olympics 2024 at the top of the medal tally with a total of 126 medals, including 40 gold medals, 44 silver and 42 bronze medals on Sunday.
In second place is China, who ended their campaign with 40 gold, 27 silver, and 24 bronze medals, making it a total of 91 medals. The third place was bagged by Japan, who took home 20 golds, 12 silver and 13 bronze medals, which is a total of 45 medals.
The Indian contingent finished at the 71st spot, with a silver medal and five bronze medals to their name, bringing home a total of six medals. A contingent of 117 Indian athletes pursued medals and sporting glory at the marquee event.
Manu Bhaker clinched India's first medal at these Games, earning bronze and becoming the first Indian woman to medal in Olympic shooting.
She then made history by becoming the first Indian to win two medals in a single Olympic edition, following her mixed team 10m air pistol bronze with Sarabjot Singh. Her medal with Sarabjot was also the country's first team medal in shooting.
Swapnil Kusale contributed a third medal in shooting, marking India's largest haul in this sport at a single Olympics. It was India's first-ever medal in the 50 m rifle three positions.
The Indian men's hockey team repeated their Tokyo 2020 success by securing bronze in Paris.
Neeraj Chopra further enhanced his Olympic legacy, claiming silver in the javelin throw and becoming the most successful individual Olympian from India. Since the Munich 1972 Games, team India won two successive bronze medals at the marquee event.
Aman Sehrawat added to the tally, becoming India's youngest Olympic medallist with a bronze in wrestling.
Despite these achievements, India faced significant disappointments in Paris 2024.
The nation narrowly missed out on six potential medals, with athletes finishing fourth in their events, including Lakshya Sen, Mirabai Chanu, and Manu Bhaker, who was close to securing a third medal. Also, the mixed team archery duo of Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat could not win a medal for India, losing the bronze medal match. But the archers made history by becoming the first archers from India to reach an Olympic medal match.
Some other setbacks for India included, the star pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty missing out on a medal despite being in a fine form, crashing out in the semifinals of men's doubles badminton. Also, PV Sindhu failed to make it a hat-trick of medals at three successive Olympics.
The veteran archer and multi-time Olympian Deepika Kumari failed to return home with a medal despite an immense level of experience and success at non-Olympic events. Boxers Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain, the latter being Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist, could not get the country some highly-anticipated medals.
Vinesh Phogat's disqualification just before a historic final of women's 50 kg also contributed to the nation's woes.
Indian athletes participated in 69 medal events across 16 sports, including archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, equestrian, golf, hockey, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, and tennis.
