India has sent 117 athletes for the Paris Olympics 2024. Balraj Panwar, the only Indian athlete to participate in rowing at the multinational event. After a disappointing day for the nation been knocked out of the shooting category. Balraj gave some hope of a medal for the nation. He finished fourth in the ‘heat’. Balraj will have to participate in the ‘Repechage’ round to advance further in this competition.
Rower Balraj Panwar clocked seven minutes 7.11 seconds. He beat New Zealanders Thomas McIntosh (six minutes 55.92 seconds), Stefanos Antoskos (seven minutes 1.79 seconds), and Abdelkhalek Elbana (seven minutes 5.06 seconds). The top three in each heat advance to the quarterfinals. Panwar will have a second chance to proceed to the semifinals or finals via repechages.
Balraj Panwar has chance to create history
He secured fourth at the 2022 Asian Games in China and won a bronze medal at the Asian and Oceanian Olympic Qualification Regatta in Korea. During the game, he increased his speed and the number of strokes per minute as the 1000m showed both men remained close to each other as Mackintosh had stolen the march on the rest of the pack.
This new repechage format will replace the previous method, in which athletes advanced based on their quickest timings, also known as ‘lucky losers’, in addition to their top heat placings. It will be interesting to see whether the Indian rower brings in the first medal.
