Jaismine Lamboria. Photo courtesy Twitter
New Delhi: The Indian contingent to the Paris Olympic Games witnesses the maiden participation of women military personnel with Havildar Jaismine Lamboria and Chief Petty Officer (CPO) Reetika Hooda aiming for a podium finish.
Havildar Jaismine Lamboria is a 2022 Commonwealth Games Bronze medalist and CPO Reetika Hooda is the 2023 Asian Wrestling Championships Bronze medalist. They will feature in Boxing and Wrestling respectively.
Jaismine hails from a family of boxers and is the great-granddaughter of Captain Hawa Singh- the only Indian boxer to win consecutively at the Asian Games. CPO Reetika Hooda is India’s first woman wrestler to qualify for the Paris Olympics in the heavyweight 76kg category.
Twenty-four (24) Armed Forces personnel are among the 117 Indian athletes at the Paris Olympics, beginning July 26, 2024. Among these 24 athletes, 22 are men, including star Javelin Thrower Subedar Neeraj Chopra, and the presence of two women marks for the first time the participation of female Service athletes at the Olympics.
Subedar Neeraj Chopra, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Gold medalist, will again vie for top honours as his participation in the Paris Olympics comes on the back of exceptional performances which earned him a Gold medal each at the 2023 Asian Games, 2023 World Athletics Championship, 2024 Diamond League, and 2024 Paavo Nurmi Games.
Subedar Amit Panghal (Boxing); CPO Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Shot-Put); Subedar Avinash Mukund Sable (3000-metre Steeplechase); CPO Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Petty Officer (Gunnery Weapons) Muhammed Ajmal, Subedar Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan and Junior Warrant Officer (JWO) Mijo Chacko Kurian (4X400M Men’s Relay); JWO Abdulla Aboobacker (Triple Jump); Subedar Tarundeep Rai and Subedar Dhiraj Bommadevara (Archery) and Naib Subedar Sandeep Singh (Shooting) are also among the Service personnel who would aim to bring laurels to the country.
The full list of Service players is as follows:
Apart from 24 athletes, five officials from the armed forces are also heading to Paris to take part in the Olympics. The details are given below:
“The participation of the Service personnel at the Paris Olympics underscores the Armed Forces’ commitment to promoting sporting excellence and fostering a culture of athleticism while enhancing the sports consciousness across the nation,” the Ministry of Defence stated today.
As the country gears up to witness the performances of these athletes, it stands united in extending best wishes and unwavering support to each participant.
– global bihari bureau
