When we talk about the Olympics, we discuss precision and accuracy, where winners are often decided by the barest of margins. Many athletes win medals by defeating opponents by a single point or half a mark. Conversely, there are many who lose by that small margin. It’s rightly said that a fourth-place finish feels like an injection without any cause, and it hurts. Recently, Manu Bhaker, who had a wonderful run by winning two bronze medals in the 10 m individual and mixed events, lost the 25 m final, ending up in fourth place.
This came as a shock to Indian viewers, as we were expecting another Manu Bhaker special. However, this is not the first time we have experienced such misfortune. Several Indian athletes in the past have come close to the final mark but lost their grip just before the finish line. Take a look at all the Indian athletes who finished fourth at the Olympics.
List of Indian athletes who have finished fourth at Olympics
| Athletes | Olympics | Event |
| Randhir Shinde | Antwerp 1920 Olympics | men’s 54kg freestyle wrestling |
| Keshav Mangave | Helsinki 1952 Olympics | men’s 62kg freestyle wrestling |
| India | Melbourne 1956 Olympics | men’s football |
| Milkha Singh | Rome 1960 Olympics | men’s 400m athletics |
| Prem Nath | Rome 1972 Olympics | men’s 57kg freestyle wrestling |
| Sudesh Kumar | Munich 1972 Olympics | men’s 52kg freestyle wrestling |
| PT Usha | Los Angeles 1984 Olympics | women’s 400m hurdles athletics |
| Rajinder Singh | Los Angeles 1984 Olympics | men’s 74kg freestyle wrestling |
| . Leander Paes/Mahesh Bhupati | Athens 2004 Olympics | men’s doubles tennis |
| Kunjarani Devi | Athens 2004 Olympics | women’s 48kg weightlifting |
| Joydeep Karmakar | London 2012 Olympics | men’s 50m rifle prone shooting |
| . Abhinav Bindra | Rio 2016 Olympics | men’s 10m air rifle shooting |
| Sania Mirza/Rohan Bopanna | Rio 2016 Olympics | mixed doubles tennis |
| Dipa Karmakar | Rio 2016 Olympics | women’s vault gymnastics |
| Aditi Ashok | Tokyo 2020 Olympics | women’s golf |
| India | Tokyo 2020 Olympics | women’s hockey |
| . Arjun Babuta | Paris 2024 Olympics | men’s 10m air rifle shooting |
| Dhiraj Bommadevara | Paris 2024 Olympics | mixed team archery |
| Manu Bhaker | Paris 2024 Olympics | women’s 25m pistol |
Abhinav Bindra, Rio 2016 Olympics
India’s gold medalist from the 2008 Olympics, Abhinav Bindra, reached the final of the men’s 10m air rifle event at the Rio 2016 Olympics but could not replicate his gold-medal performance. He ended up in fourth place after a shoot-off, scoring 10 while his rival, Serhiy Kulish of Ukraine, scored 10.5.
Manu Bhaker, Paris 2024 Olympics
In the latest addition, Manu Bhaker, the Indian shooting sensation who was on the cusp of history, missed out on a bronze medal in the women’s 25m pistol final. In her shoot-off against Veronika Major from Hungary, Bhaker fell short by a narrow margin, securing the fourth position. Major ultimately came third with 31 points. As mentioned earlier, Bhaker is enjoying a career high with two bronze medals in a single Olympics, and surely that loss will not diminish her achievements, as she is already on the verge of being known as a legend at the age of 22.
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