Paris Olympics 2024: Who are the youngest and oldest athletes in India's contingent

Dhinidhi Desinghu at 14 years is the youngest Indian athlete at Paris Olympics 2024.

India will be sending in 117 athletes to the Paris Olympics 2024. It is the second largest contingent for the country as there were 121 athletes during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Of the 117 athletes going to Paris, 72 of them will making their debut at the summer games.

Apart from the experienced athletes, there are also young medal contenders who will be competing at the Paris Olympics 2024.

Who is the youngest Indian athlete competing at Paris Olympics 2024?

Dhinidhi Desinghu at 14 years will be the youngest Indian athlete at the Paris Olympics. She had qualified for the Olympics through universality rankings.

Desinghu will be competing in the women’s 200m freestyle. She is the only female Indian swimmer to have qualified for the summer games this time.

The national record holder in women’s 200m freestyle is the second youngest Indian Olympian. Swimmer Aarti Saha at 11 years old participated in women’s 200m breaststroke during the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Desinghu will be hoping create a legacy at Paris while representing the nation.

The teenager was in the Indian team during the Hangzhou Asian games last year. She then took part in the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha. The next destination for Desinghu will be the Aquatics centre in Paris Olympics 2024. She will be basking in the feeling of becoming an Olympian.

Also Read: Paris Olympics 2024: Which States do India’s Paris-bound athletes come from?

Who is the oldest Indian athlete competing at Paris Olympics 2024?

Rohan Bopanna at 44 years of age will the oldest Indian athlete at the Paris Olympics. He will be playing at the summer games for the third time. He made his debut during the 2012 London Olympics. Bopanna partnered with Mahesh Bhupathi in men’s doubles.

Bopanna and Bhupathi lost in the second round at London. Four years later, Bopanna played with Leander Paes as the duo lost in the second round. But in mixed doubles, Bopanna and Sania Mirza were one match away from winning the bronze medal.

Bopanna is the second oldest tennis player after Sydney Jacob to qualify for the Olympics. Jacob was 44 years and 267 days old when he played in the men’s doubles at the 1924 Paris Olympics.

The oldest Indian Olympian is Bhim Singh Bahadur who competed at the age of 66 in the Shooting Skeet event during the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

Also Read: Paris Olympics 2024: Day-wise India schedule for all athletes

This year, the men’s doubles world No #4 will be playing alongside Sriram Balaji. The pair will be seen at the Roland Garros stadium during Paris Olympics 2024. Bopanna has had plenty of experience at the courts in Roland Garros. He made the semifinals of the French Open this year and in 2022.

Bopanna made his debut at Roland Garros in 2008 and has been featuring in the men’s doubles main draw ever since. He has made the quarterfinals four times at the clay court grand slam. This time, it will be a special outing for Bopanna at the red dirt in Paris Olympics 2024.

As Bopanna will mostly be bidding farewell to the summer games at Paris, Desinghu will only be starting her journey at the biggest sporting event in the world.

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