Down but not out! These athletes are still holding India’s hopes high at the Olympics

It was supposed to be India's best performance at the Olympic stage. 116 years after Norman Pritchard won silver for his adopted nation, we were finally going to hit that magical double-digit mark. 120-odd athletes had made the travel from India to the Carnival city, in contrasting fashions – some with fervid send-off celebrations like the hockey team, but most of them anonymously as just another cattle-class passenger. Some came in with an intact legacy – despite his shenanigans, Paes will remain one of our greatest. Some still wished to sign off draped in the tri-color – Bindra deserved that send-off, while all that some hoped for was taking one step ahead, however small for India – Dipa Karmakar became India's first-ever Olympic gymnast kindling the dreams of countless young girls across this nation hungry for the tiniest possible hope to latch on to.

But the third day was again painful for the Indian contingent as 2008 Olympic Gold Medallist Abhinav Bindra narrowly missed out on a medal finishing fourth after losing the shoot-out. Among all the disappointed people, the great Shobaa De also seems to have lost hope on this talented bunch at Rio. “Goal of Team India at the Olympics: Rio jao. Selfies lo. Khaali haat wapas aao. What a waste of money and opportunity.” tweeted Miss De. But how fair is it to crucify the athletes harshly after a mere 4 days into the event?

Definitely the expectations among fans have gone up after London Olympics which indicates that the Indian public has confidence in our athletes' abilities. Dipa Karmakar’s father and coach have expressed their difficulty in getting proper sleep at night due to the weight of expectations. With expectations come disappointments when the expectations are not met followed by angst and criticism.

The Indian Contingent at London Olympics sure had star athletes but were expected to return with one or two medals which has been the trend for many years. After Gagan Narang and Vijay Kumar won the medals in shooting, a sport which India developed a reputation to win medals, only Sushil Kumar was expected to replicate his Athens Olympics heroics in Wrestling. But it was not only Sushil who went on to better the record with a Silver. Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal and Yogeshwar Dutt brought medals home which surprised many detractors. Also it is to be noted that the last four medals were won in the second half of the 15-day event(12th,14th and 15th days). There is still time where our star performers can unveil their best performance. Boxing, Wrestling and Badminton all start towards the business end of the Olympics, so we need to wait for Shiva Thapa, Saina Nehwal, Yogeshwar Dutt, Narsingh Yadav to shine.

Atanu Das’s display in archery also raises hopes for India as he entered the round of 16 with a win against Cuba’s Adrian Andres Puentes Perez.

Dipa Karmakar’s  will produce her Produnova in a few days in the final. Badminton hopes Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu are yet to step into the court. Boxer Shiva Thapa is yet to throw a punch in this Olympics. Narsingh Yadav and Yogeshwar Dutt are yet to warm up before they wrap their opponents in a stranglehold. There is much more to look forward.

Like they say, the night is always dark before the dawn. The greatest dawn in Indian Olympic history might be beckoning, and it needs all our support when our athletes need us the most.