Paris Olympics: 78 sportspersons to represent India in Athletes’ Parade during Opening Ceremony

Paris: PV Sindhu and Achanta Sharath Kamal will, as the two flagbearers, lead 78 sportspersons and officials from 12 disciplines, whose teams are in France, that will be part of the Indian component of the Athletes’ Parade in the Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Olympic Games here on Friday.

As many members of the Contingent have competitions on Saturday morning, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has been respectful of their decision to prioritise preparation and not take part in the Opening Ceremony.

Among those who have been exempted from participating in the Parade include rower Balraj Panwar, who has his race on Saturday morning, members of the air rifle and air pistol teams, who have their events on Saturday, too have decided to skip the opening ceremony.

India will be opening its campaign in shooting, badminton, table tennis, rowing, archery and hockey on the first day of competitions on Saturday.

Meanwhile, members of the athletics, weightlifting and wrestling squads are yet to reach Paris and therefore miss the opening ceremony. All others who have made themselves available will be part of the Parade.

Prominent athletes from the 12 disciplines that will be part of the Parade of the Nations during the opening ceremony are:

Archery: Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai; Badminton: PV Sindhu; Boxing: Lovlina Borgohain; Equestrian: Anush Agarwalla; Golf: Shubhankar Sharma; Hockey: Krishan Pathak, Nilakanta Sharma and Jugraj Singh; Judo: Tulika Mann; Sailing: Vishnu Saravanan and Nethra Kumanan; Shooting: Anjum Moudgil, Sift Kaur Samra, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Anish; Swimming: Srihari Nataraj, Dhinidhi Desinghu; Table Tennis: Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra and Tennis: Rohan Bopanna, Sumit Nagal and Sriram Balaji.

The fans will be in a position to witness a unique moment in Olympic history at the Opening Ceremony, which is set to be held along the Seine on Friday evening.

The Opening Ceremony promises to be unforgettable, with athlete barges floating down the river starting at the Austerlitz Bridge. They will pass under historic bridges and by iconic landmarks such as Notre Dame and the Louvre, as well as Olympic Games venues including the Esplanade des Invalides and the Grand Palais.

Almost 100 boats carrying an estimated 10,500 athletes will float along the Seine during the parade. The larger of the 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) represented in the parade will have boats to themselves, while the smaller ones will share boats.

–IANS