♦ The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has named Gagan Narang as the Chef-de-Mission of the Indian contingent to compete in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, starting on 26th July. He was the 2012 Olympic Games men’s 10-meter Air Rifle bronze medalist.
♦ Star Shuttler PV Sindhu and Table Tennis Ace Achanta Sharath Kamal will be the flag bearers during the opening ceremony.
♦ Chef-de-Mission is an important administrative post as he is responsible for ensuring the welfare of the participating athletes, taking care of their needs and liaising with the organising committee.
Posted Date: July 8, 2024Sports
♦ Serbia's Novak Djokovic clinched the gold medal in the men’s tennis singles at the Paris Olympics on 4 August 2024. He defeated Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) in the final.
♦ With this achievement, Novak has become only the third male player, alongside Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi, to complete a Career Golden Slam.
♦ Djokovic won a bronze in singles at the Beijing Games in 2008.
Posted Date: August 5, 2024♦ India will host the 2025 Men's Asia Cup, which will be played in the T20 format. This announcement was made by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in its Invitation for Expression of Interest (IEOI). The Asia Cup is set to return to India after 34 years in 2025.
♦ The 2027 Asia Cup will be hosted by Bangladesh and played in the 50-over format, in line with the ODI World Cup scheduled to take place in South Africa that year.
♦ The 2023 Men's Asia Cup was hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka in a hybrid format and was played as a 50-over tournament, with India emerging as winners.
♦ India previously hosted a Men's Asia Cup just once - in 1990/91, where they emerged as champions at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Posted Date: July 31, 2024♦ Manu Bhaker clinched a bronze medal in the 10m pistol mixed team event with Sarabjot Singh at the Olympic Games on 30 July 2024. The Indian duo defeated the South Korean combination of Lee Wonoho and Oh Yeh Jin 16-10 to win the bronze medal at Chateauroux's shooting range.
♦ Manu won a bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol event on July 29.
♦ Manu made history by becoming the first Indian woman in independent India to win two medals at a single Olympic Games.
♦ In the pre-independence Olympics, Norman Pritchard, a British-Indian, won two medals at the 1900 Summer Games. He won a silver medal in both the men’s 200m sprint and the 200m hurdles.
Posted Date: July 31, 2024♦ German's Michael Jung became the first rider to win the Olympic individual eventing title three times. He clinched gold in the equestrian individual eventing at the Paris Olympics on 29 July 2024. Jung secured the top spot with a final score of 21.80 penalty points.
♦ Australia's Christopher Burton claimed silver with a score of 22.40, while Great Britain's Laura Collett took bronze with a score of 23.10.
♦ Michael Jung won individual events at the 2012 and 2016 Games.
♦ India's Manu Bhaker secured a bronze medal in the Women’s Air Pistol event at the Paris Olympics 2024 on 28 July 2024. She became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal in shooting.
♦ Bhaker’s score of 221.7 points earned her third place, marking India’s first medal in the ongoing Olympics. The gold medal went to South Korea’s Ye Jin, who set a new Olympic record with 243.2 points. Her compatriot Kim Yeji claimed silver with 241.3 points.
♦ The nine-time World Cup medallist is only the fifth Indian to win a medal in shooting. Full list of Indian shooting medallists so far at the Olympics:
| Shooter | Event | Medal | Olympics |
| Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore | Men’s double trap | Silver | Athens 2004 |
| Abhinav Bindra | Men’s 10m air rifle | Gold | Beijing 2008 |
| Gagan Narang | Men’s 10m air rifle | Bronze | London 2012 |
| Vijay Kumar | Men’s 25m rapid fire pistol | Silver | London 2012 |
| Manu Bhaker | Women’s 10m air pistol | Bronze | Paris 2024 |
♦ The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) inaugurated the 'India House' at the Paris Olympics on 27 July 2024. This is India’s first-ever country house at the Olympics. This house was set under the ambitions of the Reliance Foundation and the Indian Olympic Association's (IOA) long-term partnership. It aims to elevate the performances of Indian athletes, support the national sports federations, and build India's credentials as a global sporting nation, with an aspiration to host the Olympic Games in the future.
Posted Date: July 29, 2024♦ Georgian shooter Nino Salukvadze became the first woman to compete at 10 Olympic Games in a career. She has competed at every Summer Olympics since 1988 when she won gold as a 19-year-old Soviet prodigy.
♦ She set her latest record when she stepped into the shooting range for qualification in the women’s 10-meter air pistol on 27 July 2024. Salukvadze placed 38th and didn’t advance to the eight-shooter final.
♦ In a career spanning five decades, Salukvadze has competed on three different Olympic teams - first with the Soviet Union in 1988, then the Unified Team which was organised for ex-Soviet athletes in Barcelona in 1992 after the Soviet Union collapsed. For the last eight Summer Olympics, she’s represented her home country of Georgia following its independence.
♦ The Olympics’ opening ceremony began in Paris on 26 Juluy 2024. This is the first time when the athletes sail through a river to enter the Olympics in the summer event's history. The closing ceremony will take place on 11 August 2024.
♦ Two-time Olympic medallist shuttler PV Sindhu and five-time Olympian Sharath Kamal were India's flag-bearers at the marquee opening ceremony, leading the 117-athlete strong contingent for the Games.
Posted Date: July 27, 2024♦ Salt Lake City in USA will host the Winter Olympics and Paralympics Games in 2034. The decision was taken by the IOC Members during the 142nd IOC Session in Paris on 24 July 2024.
♦ Salt Lake City hosted the Winter Olympics for the first time in 2002.
Posted Date: July 25, 2024♦ India has ranked 124th in the latest FIFA men’s rankings. In Asia, India remained in the 22nd position, behind the likes of Lebanon, Palestine, and Vietnam. Since December 2023, India has been sliding down. They had broken into the top 100 last year, with a best ranking of 99, but since then it has been a downward spiral.
♦ Argentina ranked number 1 in the FIFA rankings with 1901.48 points, while France stood second with 1854.91 points. Spain (1835.67 points), England (1812.26 points), Brazil (1785.61) are clinches 3rd, 4th, 5th ranks respectively.
Posted Date: July 20, 2024♦ The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named Suryakumar Yadav as captain of the Indian T20 team on 18 July 2024. Shubman Gill was named the Indian vice-captain. The three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka starting the 27th of July.
♦ Other players included in the T20 squad are Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Mohd. Siraj.
Posted Date: July 19, 2024
♦ Spain clinched the European Soccer Championship by defeating England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin. This win marks Spain’s fourth Euro title, its previous victories came in 1964, 2008 and 2012. Germany, with three titles, is second on the list.
♦ Spain won all seven games at this European Championship an unprecedented feat and broke the record for goals scored in a single tournament, with 15. In 1984 France scored 14 goals in a single tournament.
♦ The winning team will be awarded prize money of Rs.72.94 crores and the runner-up team will get Rs.45.60 crores.
Posted Date: July 15, 2024♦ Argentina won a record 16th Copa America title by defeating Colombia in the final. This match was held at Hard Rock Stadium in Florida on 15 July 2024. This win was the third straight major tournament title for Argentine following their 2021 Copa victory and their triumph in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
♦ Lautaro Martinez won the 2024 Copa America Golden Boot, awarded for the tournament’s top goalscorer. He scored a total of five goals in the tournament.
♦ The winning team will be awarded prize money of sixteen million dollars and the runner-up team will get Seven million dollars.
Posted Date: July 15, 2024♦ Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz won the Wimbledon 2024 Men’s Singles title on 14 July 2024. He defeated Novak Djokovic (Serbia) in the final at Centre Court in London. This is his second consecutive Wimbledon title.
♦ Alcaraz also won the French Open men’s singles title in 2024 June, defeating Alexander Zverev in the final.
♦ With this victory, Alcaraz becomes only the sixth man to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year.
♦ Czech Republic professional tennis player Barbora Krejcikova clinched the Wimbledon 2024 Women's Singles title. She defeated Italy's Jasmine Paolini in the final. This match was held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on 13 July 2024.
♦ She also won the French Open singles title in 2021.
Posted Date: July 13, 2024
♦ India’s Abhay Singh won both the men’s doubles and mixed doubles titles in the Asian Doubles Squash Championships held in Johor, Malaysia. Abhay was paired with Velavan Senthilkumar in the men’s doubles and defeated Malaysia’s Ong Sai Hung and Syafiq Kamal in the final to clinch the title.
♦ Abhay combined with veteran Joshna Chinappa later to also clinch the mixed doubles title. They defeated Hong Kong’s Tong Tsz Wing and Tang Ming Hong in the final.
Posted Date: July 7, 2024♦ Dhruv Sitwala clinched the Asian Billiards Championship title on 6 July 2024. In final he defeated ace Indian cueist and compatriot Pankaj Advani. This match was held in Riyadh. Dhruv set the tone for the match with an impressive start, scoring 103 points, while Advani struggled to get on the board, finishing with no points.
Posted Date: July 6, 2024
♦ Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra will lead the 28-member Indian athletics contingent at the Paris Olympics starting July 26. The Indian squad is comprised of 17 men and 11 women athletes.
Team:
Men:
♦ Avinash Sable (3,000m steeplechase), Neeraj Chopra, Kishore Kumar Jena (javelin throw), Tajinderpal Singh Toor (shot put), Praveen Chithravel, Abulla Aboobacker (triple jump), Akshdeep Singh, Vikash Singh, Paramjeet Singh Bisht (20km race walk), Muhammed Anas, Muhammed Ajmal, Amoj Jacob, Santhosh Tamilarasan, Rajesh Ramesh (4x400m relay), Mijo Chacko Kurian (4x400m relay), Suraj Panwar (race walk mixed marathon), Sarvesh Anil Kushare (High Jump).
Women:
♦ Kiran Pahal (400m), Parul Chaudhary (3,000m steeplechase and 5,000m), Jyothi Yarraji (100m hurdles), Annu Rani (javelin throw), Abha Khatua (shot put), Jyothika Sri Dandi, Subha Venkatesan, Vithya Ramraj, Poovamma MR (4x400m relay), Prachi (4x400m), Priyanka Goswami (20km race walk/race walk mixed marathon).
