Author: Sharmistha Gooptu

Sharmistha Gooptu in Paris As a woman covering her first Olympic Games, I run the risk of being told that I’m making it all about the women – but the truth of the matter is this Olympics for India had its larger national embodiment through the fates of some of our women athletes – whether in their triumph or their tragic failure, and then a certain disgrace. Let’s start with our star of the moment – the young Manu Bhaker- who has braved all odds since her tryst at the Tokyo Games and is now the poster girl. Manu embodies…

SharmisthaGooptu A lot has been written already about the Antim Panghal episode yesterday with some media outlets claiming that she is being deported along with her family, and about to be banned. That is not true, and a little while ago, we have received a message on the media WhatsApp group from the Indian Press Attaché that the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) categorically refuted claims that a ban has been imposed. Yesterday was truly a black day for India at the Olympics. We woke up joyous only to shortly hear the news of VineshPhogat’s disqualification. Thereafter, following a day of…

Sharmistha Gooptu in Paris I remember reading a friend’s FB post at the start of the Olympics, where he wrote that the media have different standards when reporting on events hosted by the Western world and those hosted by the Global South. I felt then that he was overreacting. However, as it’s now been more than two weeks since I have been in Paris for the Olympic Games, and more so after my experience yesterday, I’m not so sure anymore. While being at the Olympic Games is pure privilege, especially seeing Indian athletes compete, some aspects of organisational management here…

Eurosport has removed a swimming commentator from its Paris 2024 roster after he made an offensive and sexist comment about the winning Australian women’s relay team. “Well, the women just finishing up,” he said. “You know what women are like … hanging around, doing their makeup…”It was supposedly meant to be funny, only I’m left wondering what someone might have said in a similar vein if they had wanted to be funny about men. Nothing comes to mind really, because there really is no pervasive culture of demoting men even while celebrating them. And thank God for that. Only women…

Sharmistha Gooptu in Paris As we alighted from our taxi in front of a waterway that stretched before us, and a flight of stairs that led up to a bridge amidst the lush green, we encountered a group of young Indian volunteers, all in India House t-shirts. They were Indian students enrolled at different universities and schools in Paris and who had volunteered to assist with the grand opening of the first-ever India House at any Olympics. La Villette is the locale that houses several of the hospitality houses of the competing nations and as we climbed the bridge and…

Sharmistha Gooptu in Paris Some names are like a child’s introduction to sport. One such name for me was PT Usha. People would speak with hushed reverence when it came to Usha because she was the first Indian female athlete to have broken onto the international stage, and she stood for speed and power, something people did not easily equate with women at the time. Usha became a household name. Come yesterday, and we waited for the anticipated interview with the first female President of the Indian Olympian Association (IOA) in a quiet seating area near the lobby of the…

Sharmistha Gooptu in Paris Last night, the entire RevSportz team reached Paris coming in from different destinations to converge at the Charles de Gaulle International Airport. A couple of us had left Kolkata on 21st to be in Dubai and had Dubai visas, hence we did not need to show our ENR (non-media rights holder) cards at Kolkata airport. The ENR card issued by the IOC is supposed to work like a visa, allowing the international accredited media to cover the Games. The very same card is to be validated at the Main Press Centre, and work as the media…

Rohit Sharma’s tweet, on the intrusiveness of the host broadcaster showing a certain conversation, has stirred a hornet’s nest. The jury is out on the matter – are cricketers entitled to the privacy that Rohit asks for, or do they, by virtue of being public figures and super celebrities, need to relinquish that right, especially when on a field of play? The host broadcaster could, from their side, claim and plead that they have paid billions for the right to film and air each and every moment on the field, whether practice sessions or players during a game. That’s an…

As a mother I have always had the realisation that motherhood can together be the most challenging as well as the most rewarding thing one ever undertakes to do. As mothers we are judged regularly and that’s a constant not only in our part of the world, but the world over. As a result, modern day mothers who are mostly multitasking women, tend to impose unreal standards on themselves. Sportswomen are supermothers, who perhaps have it a little bit harder than most of us. Battling unreal expectations of comebacks and cruel body shaming, they deal with post natal and…

India’s women wrestlers, Vinesh Phogat, Anshu Malik and Reetika Hooda, swelled the country’s Paris 2024 Olympic Games wrestling quotas to four with their efforts in the Asian Olympic qualifier in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on Saturday. Coming a day after the nation’s men’s freestyle grapplers drew a blank, the women wrestlers helped India save the blushes. India’s first World U-23 76kg champion, Reetika Hooda was the toast as she wrapped up the night with India’s third quota. She scored an untroubled 7-0 victory over Hui Tsz Chang (Chinese Taipei) in the semifinals. Earlier, she topped the four-wrestler Group A with wins against…