So near yet so far! Revisiting India's tryst with 4th-place heartbreaks at Olympics ahead of Paris Games 2024

Ahead of the Paris Olympics 2024, here is a look at the instances when Indian athletes came tantalizingly close to victory but fell just short.

Team Asianet Newsable

First Published Jul 19, 2024, 4:56 PM IST | Last Updated Jul 19, 2024, 4:56 PM IST

Finishing fourth in the Olympics is often described as peak agony. While coming last can sting with embarrassment, securing fourth place inflicts the pain of being so near yet so far. This position can either drive an athlete to future glory or leave them completely crushed. India's history at the Olympics is marked by several such near-misses, beginning way back in 1956.

Ahead of the Paris Olympics 2024, here is a look at the instances when Indian athletes came tantalizingly close to victory but fell just short:

1956, Melbourne

The Indian football team made history by reaching the semifinals after defeating hosts Australia 4-2 in the quarterfinals, with Neville D'Souza becoming the first Asian to score a hat-trick at the Games. Despite taking the lead against Yugoslavia in the semifinals, India succumbed to a second-half comeback. The bronze medal match saw India lose to Bulgaria 0-3, closing an eventful campaign that the great P K Banerjee often remembered with a hint of understandable anguish.

1960, Rome

Legendary sprinter Milkha Singh, known as the 'Flying Sikh', missed out on a bronze in the 400m final by the narrowest of margins—just 1/10th of a second. This painful memory haunted Singh, alongside the trauma of losing his parents during the partition. Although he almost quit the sport, he was persuaded to continue and went on to win two gold medals at the 1962 Asian Games.

1980, Moscow

The Indian women's hockey team had a great chance to secure a medal in their first Olympic appearance, with top teams boycotting the Games. However, they narrowly missed out on a podium finish, losing their final match to the USSR 1-3 and finishing fourth behind Zimbabwe, Czechoslovakia, and the hosts.

1984, Los Angeles

P.T. Usha's near miss in the 400m hurdles echoed Milkha Singh's heartbreak. Known as the 'Payyoli Express', she missed the bronze by 1/100th of a second, the closest ever for an Indian athlete. Despite finishing fourth, Usha's heroic effort left a lasting impression and made her a household name.

2004, Athens

After a 20-year gap, the curse of the fourth place returned. The celebrated duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi narrowly missed the podium in men's doubles tennis. In a marathon match for the bronze, they lost to Croatia's Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic 6-7, 6-4, 14-16. Additionally, Kunjarani Devi finished fourth in the women's 48kg weightlifting competition, disqualified in her final clean and jerk attempt. Disqualified in her final attempt to lift 112.5 kg in the clean and jerk category, Kunjarani Devi ended with a total effort of 190 kg, falling 10 kg short of the bronze medalist, Thailand's Aree Wiratthaworn.

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2012, London

Shooter Joydeep Karmakar experienced the agony of finishing just one place behind the bronze medalist. After placing seventh in the qualification round of the men's 50m rifle prone event, Karmakar ended the finals just 1.9 points shy of the bronze medal.

2016, Rio de Janerio

Gymnast Dipa Karmakar made history as the first Indian woman gymnast to compete at the Olympic Games. After reaching the final of the women's vault event, she finished fourth with a score of 15.066, narrowly missing the bronze medal by 0.150 points. Karmakar's performance highlighted that one does not have to be born in the USA or Russia to excel in gymnastics.

At the same Games, Abhinav Bindra, aiming for a fairytale conclusion to his illustrious career, also fell victim to the fourth-place curse. Eight years after his historic gold medal at the Beijing Games, Bindra missed the bronze by a whisker in the men's 10m air rifle event.

2020, Tokyo

More than four decades after the 1980 Moscow Games, the Indian women's hockey team faced similar heartbreak at the Tokyo Olympics, narrowly missing out on the bronze medal. Despite being underdogs, the Indian team caused a major upset by defeating three-time Olympic champions Australia to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, they were edged out by Argentina in a close 0-1 loss, but they still had a chance at the bronze. Leading 3-2 against Great Britain, it seemed they were on their way to securing the elusive medal. However, Britain scored twice to take a 4-3 lead, leaving the Indian team devastated and in tears.

During the same Olympics, golfer Aditi Ashok also experienced the disappointment of just missing out on a historic podium finish. Ranked 200th in the world, the 26-year-old competed toe-to-toe with the best golfers, only to narrowly miss out on a medal, finishing fourth.

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