Paris: The Indian contingent taking part in the Athletes’ Parade during the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Friday, to be led by PV Sindhu and Achanta Sharath Kamal, will have 78 athletes and officials from 12 sports disciplines.
All the athletes who made themselves available for the ceremony will be part of the Parade, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) said.
“IOA President PT Usha and Chef-de-Mission Gagan Narang have given top priority to athletes in the composition of the contingent in the Athletes’ Parade.” the IOA said.
“Many have competitions on Saturday and IOA has been respectful of their decision to prioritise preparation and to not take part in the Opening Ceremony.”
Besides Sindhu and Sharath Kamal, who will be the flag-bearers, other prominent athletes include archer Deepika Kumari, boxer Lovlina Borgohain, table tennis player Manika Batra and tennis player Rohan Bopanna.
Rower Balraj Panwar has his race on Saturday morning and so, he is not taking part in the Athletes’ Parade. Track and Field, weightlifting and wrestling teams are yet to reach Paris.
The Indian men’s hockey team has also a match against New Zealand on Saturday, and thus three reserve players will participate in the ceremony.
India is being represented by 117 athletes, including 47 women, in the multi-sporting spectacle.
For the first time in Olympic history, the Opening Ceremony is not taking place in a stadium, but on the banks of the river Seine here. More than 6,500 athletes in around 90 boats will sail past the iconic monuments of Paris.
Indian players taking part in Opening Ceremony.
Flag-bearers: PV Sindhu (badminton) and Achanta Sharath Kamal (table tennis).
Archery: Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai.
Boxing: Lovlina Borgohain
Table Tennis: Manika Batra
Tennis: Rohan Bopanna, Sumit Nagal and Sriram Balaji.
Shooting: Anjum Moudgil, Sift Kaur Samra, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Anish.
Equestrian: Anush Agarwalla
Golf: Shubhankar Sharma
Hockey: Krishan Pathak, Nilakanta Sharma and Jugraj Singh
Judo: Tulika Mann
Sailing: Vishnu Saravanan and Nethra Kumanan
Swimming: Srihari Nataraj and Dhinidhi Desinghu.
