Super Seven! The Heroes Who Made India Proud at the Tokyo Olympics
1 Gold, 2 Silver, 4 Bronze!
It’s time for celebration!! India’s performance in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games has been a terrific one that broke many records and created history. With javelin star Neeraj Chopra’s golden performance that earned the country its first gold medal, India ended its Olympic action with a haul of seven medals across different sports. This broke India’s previous record tally of six medals at the London Olympics in 2012.
With one gold, two silver and four bronze medals, India turned the Tokyo Olympics into one of its most successful campaigns in history. From Neeraj Chopra and Mirabai Chanu to PV Sindhu, we take a look at these sports stars who have not just brought home the medals, but have also created history.
Read: Know All The Indian Athletes Who Qualified For Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games
India’s Super Seven who scripted history
Subedar Neeraj Chopra
Sport: Javelin throw | Medal Earned: Gold
An Arjuna awardee, Neeraj made history with an impressive personal best throw of 87.58 meters. His win brought home the second individual Olympics gold in the country’s history after Abhinav Bindra’s gold medal for shooting in Beijing in 2008. This is also independent India’s first medal in a Track and Field event in the Olympics.
The 23-year-old athlete from Panipat, Haryana, is also a Subedar in the Indian Army. In 2016 IAAF World U20 Championships, he broke the junior world record to become the first Indian athlete to win a world title in Track and Field. He later went on to win gold in many events – South Asian Games in 2016, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games in 2018 – before getting selected to represent India at the Olympics.
Saikhom Mirabai Chanu
Sport: Weightlifting | Medal Earned: Silver
Hailing from Nongpok Kakching, a village 45 km south of Manipur’s capital Imphal, Mirabai Chanu displayed great strength since childhood. From picking firewood with her siblings to following the path of her idol, Kunjarani Devi (the iconic weightlifter from Manipur), Mirabai has come a long way. She first shot to fame when she won a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
After her Olympics debut in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 turned into a disaster as she couldn’t complete the event, she made a stronger comeback and won a gold in the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships. It was the perfect validation of her talent and hard work. There was no looking back after that, and she went on to win several other medals at various events.
Ravi Kumar Dahiya
Sport: Wrestling | Medal Earned: Silver
Ravi Kumar Dahiya put on a sensational show while defeating China’s Zushen Lin to book a semi-final berth and settling for a silver medal in the finals. With this win, he became the second Indian wrestler to clinch an Olympic silver after Sushil Kumar (2012). The 2020 Asian Championships gold medal winner from Haryana made his international debut at the age of 17 and had represented India on several occasions.
PV Sindhu
Sport: Badminton | Medal Earned: Bronze
Reigning world champion Pusarla Venkata Sindhu made millions of people proud when she defeated Chinese shuttler He Bingjiao. With this win, she added another Olympic medal and became the first Indian female athlete to win two Olympic medals and the second Indian athlete to win medals in consecutive editions of the Olympics.
Lovlina Borgohain
Sport: Boxing | Medal Earned: Bronze
Lovlina Borgohain is a promising boxer who made her Olympic debut this year. Hailing from Golaghat district in Assam, she brought cheers to her family and the entire nation when she earned a bronze in the semifinal of the women’s welterweight (64-69kg) category at the Tokyo Olympics. With this win, she became the third Indian boxer after Vijender Singh (2008) and Mary Kom (2012) to win a medal at the Olympics.
Bajrang Punia
Sport: Wrestling | Medal Earned: Bronze
Bajrang Punia debuted in the Olympics this year and won a bronze medal after outwitting Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov in the play-off. The former Asian Games gold medallist dominated the men’s 65kg bout from the start and finished with an 8-0 scoreline.
Bajrang is the only Indian freestyle wrestler to win three medals at the World Wrestling Championships. The 2015 Arjuna awardee, Bajrang Punia is also a two-time Asian Games medallist, having secured a silver medal in 2014, and following up with a gold medal at Jakarta in 2018. The same year, he also took the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games.
Men’s Hockey Team
Sport: Field Hockey | Medal Earned: Bronze
It was a proud moment for all hockey fans as the Indian team sealed a 5-4 win against Germany in an edge-of-the-seat play-off match at the Oi Hockey Stadium. With this win, the resolute team rewrote history by claiming an Olympic medal after 41 years. They also set the record of securing the most number of medals in the men’s hockey team, with three bronze medals, one silver medal, and eight gold medals in the history of the Olympics.
These power-packed performances by our athletes from different sports truly illustrated how true persistence, dedication, and constant practice do help make dreams come true. While the Olympics have ended this year, the performances of our athletes have encouraged many to pursue a career in sports and keep our flag flying as high as ever.
Read More: 10 Cool Facts about the Summer Olympics