By Hazel Gandhi
Several social media posts are viral online with the misleading claim that Indian fencer CA Bhavani Devi has already qualified for the Paris Olympics that will begin from July this year.
BOOM found that the claims are misleading, and as of writing this article, no official announcement confirming Bhavani Devi's selection exists.
The Paris Olympics are set to take place from July 16 to August 11, 2024 where participants from 206 countries will compete across 32 sports and a total of 329 medal events.
A photo of Bhavani Devi is viral online with the misleading claim that she already qualified for the games. A caption on X reads, "Bhavani Devi qualifies for the Paris Olympic. First Indian to do so. Congratulations to her 🎉🔥 #Paris2024 #Olympics2028."
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
Another caption on Facebook reads, "In a remarkable achievement for Indian sports, Bhavani Devi has etched her name in history by becoming the first Indian fencer to secure a spot at the Paris Olympics. The accomplished athlete's journey and unwavering dedication have paved the way for a groundbreaking chapter in Indian fencing. Hailing from Chennai, Bhavani Devi has been a trailblazer in the world of fencing, showcasing exceptional skill and resilience throughout her career. Her qualification for the Paris Olympics marks a watershed moment not only for her but also for the entire nation."
Click here to view the post.
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FACT CHECK
BOOM found that at the time of writing this article, no official announcement related to Devi's selection exists.
We ran a Google search to look for any official confirmation regarding Devi's selection and found a complete list of athletes qualified for the Paris games on the website of the Olympics. The list, last updated on January 31, 2024, includes names of 39 athletes and teams that have qualified for the games, but does not include Devi's name yet.
We then ran a search for any news reports about Devi's qualification but did not find any results.
Following this, we scanned Devi's official Instagram and Facebook profiles and did not find any update regarding her participation in the Olympics.
We then found that Olympic Khel, the official Indian account for the Olympics first shared a video of Devi from one of her bouts at the 2020 Olympics with the caption, "The first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics! Bhavani Devi, everybody 🙌"
Click here to view the archive.
This led to the confusion that Devi had qualified for the 2024 games. The account then deleted the post and reshared it while including that Bhavani Devi had qualified for the 2020 Olympics.
According to the Olympics website, an athlete qualifies for fencing based on their Adjusted Official Ranking (AOR) which is determined on the basis of points earned by them between April 3, 2023 to April 1, 2024 in individual competitions. In the 2020 Tokyo olympics too, Bhavani had qualified through the AOR method.
CA Bhavani Devi became the first fencer from India to qualify for the Olympics during the 2020 Tokyo games. Devi lost to France's Manon Burnet, then world number 3, in the second round.
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