New Delhi
14-year-old Dhinidhi Desinghu and Srihari Nataraj are selected to represent India at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games under Universality Quota, Swimming Federation of India (SFI) announced on Wednesday.
Srihari Nataraj and Dhinidhi will represent India in swimming at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Srihari will compete in the men’s 100m backstroke, marking his second Olympic appearance after Tokyo 2020. Dhinidhi, at just 14 years old, will make her Olympic debut in the women’s 200m freestyle, becoming the youngest athlete in the Indian contingent.
No Indian swimmers met the Olympic Qualification Time (OQT) or Olympic Consideration Time (OCT) for Paris 2024 during the qualification period from March 1, 2023, to June 23, 2024. Therefore, the Swimming Federation of India (SFI) opted for Universality quota places. Under this rule, countries without any qualified athletes can enter a maximum of two swimmers, one man and one woman, in one event each, provided they participated in recent World Championships.
Srihari participated in the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, while Dhinidhi competed in the 2024 World Championships in Doha, Qatar. Srihari topped the male category of the World Aquatics points table with 849 points, and Dhinidhi led the women’s table with 749 points. Aryan Nehra narrowly missed the Universality spot, finishing just two points behind Srihari. The swimming events at Paris 2024 will be held from July 27 to August 4 at the Paris La Defense Arena.
