The Olympics is a stage where dreams are made and broken. While gold, silver, and bronze medals are celebrated, there's a less-discussed realm of despair: Fourth place.
It's a cruel position, a tantalising glimpse of victory followed by the bitter taste of defeat.
The 2024 Paris Olympics has been particularly unkind to India, a nation accustomed to the highs and lows of elite sport.
Lakshya Sen, on the cusp of badminton history, faltered in the bronze medal match, while shooter Arjun Babuta's Olympic dream shattered with a heartbreaking 9.5 on his final shot in the 10m air rifle final.
Even Manu Bhaker, a double medalist at these Games, narrowly missed bronze in the women's 25m air rifle.
These immensely talented athletes now share the company of their predecessors, Indian sportspersons who have experienced the crushing disappointment of a fourth place finish.
India's athletes are no strangers to this feeling. Over the years, several have tasted the disappointment of a fourth place finish, the proximity to a medal amplifying the sting of defeat.
These near misses echo past heartbreaks like P T Usha missing a bronze medal in the 400m hurdles by just one-hundredth of a second in 1984, or Milkha Singh's heartbreaking 0.1 second gap from a podium finish in 1960.
Even Abhinav Bindra, India's iconic gold medalist, experienced the agony of fourth place in his final Olympics.
The 2024 Paris Olympics saw this story repeated on multiple occasions. Six Indian athletes found themselves agonisingly close to the podium, ultimately falling short.
Lakshya Sen (Badminton)
Lakshya Sen's defeat in the bronze medal match against Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia brought an end to India's hopes of securing a badminton medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Despite winning the first game, Sen was unable to maintain his momentum, ultimately losing the match 13-21, 21-16, 21-11.
This result marked the first time in 12 years that India returned empty-handed from the Olympic badminton tournament.
Manu Bhaker (Women's 25m Air Rifle Shooting)
Star shooter Manu Bhaker narrowly missed out on a third Olympic medal at the Paris 2024 Games.
Despite holding a strong position in the top three for much of the women's 25m air pistol final, a downturn in performance towards the end of the competition pushed her into a shoot-off with Hungary's Veronika Major.
Ultimately, Bhaker's hopes of a historic triple medal haul were dashed as she missed two targets in the shoot-off, while Major missed just one, securing the bronze medal.
Arjun Babuta (Men's 10m Air Rifle Shooting)
Arjun Babuta narrowly missed out on a bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, finishing in fourth place in the men's 10m air rifle final.
Babuta's final score of 208.4 points was just 1.4 points shy of Croatia's Miran Maricic, who secured the bronze medal.
A single crucial shot proved to be the difference between a podium finish and heartbreak for the Indian shooter.
Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara (Mixed Team Archery)
India's archery duo of Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat made history at the Paris 2024 Olympics by reaching the semifinals, but ultimately fell short of a medal, finishing in fourth place.
The pair's journey came to an end in the bronze medal match against the USA, where they lost 6-2.
Maheshwari Chauhan and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka (Skeet Mixed Team Shooting)
Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan fell short of a bronze medal in the skeet mixed team shooting event by a single point, losing to China's Jiang Yiting and Lyu Jianlin, 43-44.
Mirabai Chanu (women's 49kg Weightlifting)
Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Mirabai Chanu finished fourth in the women's 49kg category.
Despite a strong performance, including a national record in the snatch, Chanu was edged out by just one kilogram. Thailand's Surodchana Khambao clinched the bronze with a total lift of 200kg, while Chanu managed 199kg.
