NEW DELHI-Months ahead of the Rio Games, Indian sports officials vowed that the massive nation would turn around its long history of dismal Olympic results and be proud of its athletes.
Steeplechase. Golf. Shooting. Badminton. Boxing. Tennis. Wrestling. Archery. Discus. India saw medal possibilities in all those disciplines, and the head of the government's sports authority, Injeti Srinivas, said he expected India to bring home anywhere from 10 to 14 medals.
"What happens on a particular day is something none of us can predict. But we should achieve this target," Srinivas said in March.
You don't hear such optimism these days. With the end of the games just a few days away, India has yet to win any medals at all. Both its men's and women's field hockey teams were bounced; its best chance left at gold, silver or bronze could be in women's badminton, with Pusarla Sindhu playing a semifinal Thursday against Okuhara Nozomi of Japan.
Other problems have surfaced beyond competition.
The Indian sports minister was chastised by Olympic officials for the "aggressive and rude" behavior of his entourage in Rio. The standout Indian athlete of the games, a gymnast known for performing one of the sport's most dangerous moves, confessed that she'd had to cobble together her own training equipment because gymnasts get so little support.
Abhinav Bindra, a rifle shooter who won India's first individual gold, at the Beijing Games in 2008, questioned on Twitter his country's commitment to winning.
"Each medal costs the UK 5.5 million pounds," said Bindra, who finished fourth in the men's 10-meter air rifle finals in Rio. "That's the sort of investment needed. Let's not expect much until we put systems in place
at home."
The reaction at home has been harsh.
"It's a disaster," said Mihir Vasavda, a sportswriter for the Indian Express newspaper. "We're looking at returning (from an Olympics) for the first time without a medal since 1992."