NEW DELHI: It’s commonly claimed that placing fourth at the Olympics represents the height of suffering. If finishing last is painful because of agony, then finishing in fourth place hurts because it is both close and far away. This can either propel an athlete to future glory or break them entirely.
India has a lengthy history of coming close to missing the biggest stage of sport, dating back to 1956.
Here is a look at the instances when Indian athletes came close but ended at just that, according to PTI.
1956, Melbourne
Neville D’Souza became the first Asian player to score a hat-trick at the Olympics as the Indian football team advanced to the semifinals following their 4-2 victory over the host Australia in the quarterfinals.
Neville appeared to be doing a comeback by giving his team the lead in the match against Yugoslavia in the round of four. However, the Yugoslavians made a tremendous comeback in the second half to win the match.
India’s 0-3 loss to Bulgaria in the bronze medal classification match brought an end to an exciting few days that the legendary P K Banerjee would frequently remember with a tinge of justifiable sorrow.
1960, Rome
Milkha Singh, the legendary athlete, narrowly failed to secure a bronze medal.
A strong medal candidate going into the 400m final, the ‘Flying Sikh’ lost by just a hair’s breadth of a second when he stopped to take a quick look at his rivals, a mistake he would live to regret.
After losing both of his parents in the aftermath of the partition, this would rank as his worst memory.
After this defeat, Milkha was on the verge of giving up on the sport; it took a lot of convincing to get him back on the track and win two gold medals at the Asian Games in 1962.
1980, Moscow
Due to the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan, leading hockey nations like the Netherlands, Australia, and tremendous Britain boycotted the Moscow Games. This gave the Indian women’s hockey team a tremendous chance to place on the podium in their very first competition.
However, the team had to bear the misery of missing out on a medal, finishing behind Zimbabwe, Czechoslovakia, and the hosts after losing its last game to the former USSR 1-3.
1984, Los Angeles
Reminiscent of Milkha in Rome, the LA Olympics saw PT Usha miss the 400m hurdles bronze by the narrowest margin ever for an Indian athlete in any competition-1/100th of a second.
Notwithstanding her fourth-place finish behind Romania’s Christina Cojocaru, the ‘Payyoli Express’ made a lasting impression and gained widespread recognition for her valiant attempt.
2004, Athens
Following a twenty-year lapse, the Indian contingent faced the spectre of finishing fourth once more when the esteemed pairing of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes failed to secure a podium spot at the Athens Games.
Possibly the best tennis doubles team in India, Paes and Bhupathi finished fourth in a tough match against Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, 6-7 6-4 14-16, missing out on a bronze medal.
Prior to that, the Indian combination entered the semifinals as the favorites, but they were defeated in straight sets, 2-6 3-6, by the German team of Rainer Schuttler and Nicholas Kiefer.
In the women’s 48kg weightlifting competition at the same Games, Kunjarani Devi placed fourth, but she was not truly in the running for a medal.
Disqualified from the clean and jerk competition after failing to lift 112.5 kg in her final try, Kunjarani ended with a total effort of 190 kg, 10 kg less than bronze-medalist Aree Wiratthaworn of Thailand.
2012, London
The awful feeling of finishing one spot behind the bronze medal winner in this competition was experienced by shooter Joydeep Karmakar.
Men’s 50m rifle prone finalist Karmakar had placed seventh in the qualification round and was only 1.9 points behind the bronze medal winner in the finals.
2016, Rio de Janeiro
The first female gymnast from India to compete at the Games was Dipa Karmakar. She advanced to the women’s vault final, where she scored 15.066 to finish fourth overall, 0.150 points short of the bronze medal.
She brought the sport to India and spread the idea that anyone can become a skilled gymnast without having to be born in the USA or Russia.
Eight years after winning a historic gold medal at the Beijing Games, Abhinav Bindra was not immune to the curse of the fourth, as he narrowly missed out on the bronze medal in the same Games.
2020, Tokyo
A little more than forty years after the Moscow Games in 1980, the Indian women’s hockey team suffered a same fate in Tokyo, failing to win the bronze medal.
Australia, the three-time Olympic champions, were upset by the Indian team, who performed above their weight and advanced to the semifinals.
They lost against Argentina 0-1 in the semifinals, but they were still in the running for the bronze. With a 3-2 lead over Great Britain, Rani Rampal and company appeared to be headed for the coveted medal.
However, the Indian squad was reduced to tears as Britain scored twice to go ahead 4-3 and secure the medal.
Golfer Aditi Ashok too went through the heartache of missing out on a historic podium finish at the same Games.
The 26-year-old, who is ranked 200th in the world, was able to match the top golfers on the planet shot for shot. Though she ended fourth and came agonizingly close, she ultimately lost out.
India has a lengthy history of coming close to missing the biggest stage of sport, dating back to 1956.
Here is a look at the instances when Indian athletes came close but ended at just that, according to PTI.
1956, Melbourne
Neville D’Souza became the first Asian player to score a hat-trick at the Olympics as the Indian football team advanced to the semifinals following their 4-2 victory over the host Australia in the quarterfinals.
Neville appeared to be doing a comeback by giving his team the lead in the match against Yugoslavia in the round of four. However, the Yugoslavians made a tremendous comeback in the second half to win the match.
India’s 0-3 loss to Bulgaria in the bronze medal classification match brought an end to an exciting few days that the legendary P K Banerjee would frequently remember with a tinge of justifiable sorrow.
1960, Rome
Milkha Singh, the legendary athlete, narrowly failed to secure a bronze medal.
A strong medal candidate going into the 400m final, the ‘Flying Sikh’ lost by just a hair’s breadth of a second when he stopped to take a quick look at his rivals, a mistake he would live to regret.
After losing both of his parents in the aftermath of the partition, this would rank as his worst memory.
After this defeat, Milkha was on the verge of giving up on the sport; it took a lot of convincing to get him back on the track and win two gold medals at the Asian Games in 1962.
1980, Moscow
Due to the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan, leading hockey nations like the Netherlands, Australia, and tremendous Britain boycotted the Moscow Games. This gave the Indian women’s hockey team a tremendous chance to place on the podium in their very first competition.
However, the team had to bear the misery of missing out on a medal, finishing behind Zimbabwe, Czechoslovakia, and the hosts after losing its last game to the former USSR 1-3.
1984, Los Angeles
Reminiscent of Milkha in Rome, the LA Olympics saw PT Usha miss the 400m hurdles bronze by the narrowest margin ever for an Indian athlete in any competition-1/100th of a second.
Notwithstanding her fourth-place finish behind Romania’s Christina Cojocaru, the ‘Payyoli Express’ made a lasting impression and gained widespread recognition for her valiant attempt.
2004, Athens
Following a twenty-year lapse, the Indian contingent faced the spectre of finishing fourth once more when the esteemed pairing of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes failed to secure a podium spot at the Athens Games.
Possibly the best tennis doubles team in India, Paes and Bhupathi finished fourth in a tough match against Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, 6-7 6-4 14-16, missing out on a bronze medal.
Prior to that, the Indian combination entered the semifinals as the favorites, but they were defeated in straight sets, 2-6 3-6, by the German team of Rainer Schuttler and Nicholas Kiefer.
In the women’s 48kg weightlifting competition at the same Games, Kunjarani Devi placed fourth, but she was not truly in the running for a medal.
Disqualified from the clean and jerk competition after failing to lift 112.5 kg in her final try, Kunjarani ended with a total effort of 190 kg, 10 kg less than bronze-medalist Aree Wiratthaworn of Thailand.
2012, London
The awful feeling of finishing one spot behind the bronze medal winner in this competition was experienced by shooter Joydeep Karmakar.
Men’s 50m rifle prone finalist Karmakar had placed seventh in the qualification round and was only 1.9 points behind the bronze medal winner in the finals.
2016, Rio de Janeiro
The first female gymnast from India to compete at the Games was Dipa Karmakar. She advanced to the women’s vault final, where she scored 15.066 to finish fourth overall, 0.150 points short of the bronze medal.
She brought the sport to India and spread the idea that anyone can become a skilled gymnast without having to be born in the USA or Russia.
Eight years after winning a historic gold medal at the Beijing Games, Abhinav Bindra was not immune to the curse of the fourth, as he narrowly missed out on the bronze medal in the same Games.
2020, Tokyo
A little more than forty years after the Moscow Games in 1980, the Indian women’s hockey team suffered a same fate in Tokyo, failing to win the bronze medal.
Australia, the three-time Olympic champions, were upset by the Indian team, who performed above their weight and advanced to the semifinals.
They lost against Argentina 0-1 in the semifinals, but they were still in the running for the bronze. With a 3-2 lead over Great Britain, Rani Rampal and company appeared to be headed for the coveted medal.
However, the Indian squad was reduced to tears as Britain scored twice to go ahead 4-3 and secure the medal.
Golfer Aditi Ashok too went through the heartache of missing out on a historic podium finish at the same Games.
The 26-year-old, who is ranked 200th in the world, was able to match the top golfers on the planet shot for shot. Though she ended fourth and came agonizingly close, she ultimately lost out.