This year as the Paris Olympics 2024 kicked off, Indian fans took to social media to cheer for their Olympic contingent and watch history be made as markswoman Manu Bhaker bagged two Bronze medals for India as the first ever Indian athlete to do so in a single Olympic Games.
Tenured Indian athletes like P.V. Sindhu and Neeraj Chopra are receiving a torrent of praise and encouragement on platforms like X and Instagram, being mentioned over 12K times each, while rising star Manu Bhaker has been lauded online with over 83K mentions for her two medal wins in the pistol shooting category – making her the first Indian athlete to win multiple medals at a single Olympic Games, stated Sprinklr Insights.
Newcomers like Lakshya Sen, Nikhat Zareen, and Rhythm Sangwanhave captured the attention and admiration of fans, who are closely following their journeys and sharing their stories online – with the newcomers being discussed in over 7.7K, 6.4K and 4.8K conversations in the last month alone.
Women athletes continue to be a source of pride for India at the Olympics, as the 2024 contingent consists of 40 percent women athletes. Air rifle marksman Manu Bhaker kicked off India’s medal collection for the 2024 Games with two podium finishes, which excited fans and sparked over 83K conversations online. As per the report, fans are also notably excited about the upcoming performances from P.V. Sindhu, who has been mentioned over 12K times, and Ramita Jindal, being mentioned in over 7K conversations as fans anticipate strong showings from them.
The country’s medal hopes run strong across categories – already paying off in the Shooting category with Manu Bhaker’s Bronze win – which has boosted it to the most talked about sporting category with over 40K conversations, highlighted the report. This is closely followed by the national sport Hockey, which sees over 36K mentions, and Badminton with over 24K mentions – with Athletics and Boxing rounding out the top five, stated the report.
Fans online are actively discussing the performances and anticipating the wins of athletes like American table tennis player Kanak Jha, French table tennis player Prithika Pavade, American tennis player Rajeev Ram, Singaporean track and field athlete Shanti Pereira, and Canadian freestyle wrestler Amar Dhesi; with thousands of conversations already brewing among Indian fans about their anticipated performances.
Driven by a sense of unity and shared heritage, Indian fans are fostering an online community of sporting support and encouragement – driving over 300K conversations about the Olympics across the popular social media platforms of X, Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Reddit, and Facebook -resulting in a combined reach of 41.3 billion impressions.
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