India is competing in various sports at the ongoing Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. It has sent its largest contingent of 124 competitors to the Tokyo Olympics. India has appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympics since 1920, although it made its official debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris.
So far, India has won 7 medals—one gold, two silver and four bronze—Neeraj Chopra(Gold), Mirabai Chanu and Ravi Dahiya (Silver) and PV Sindhu, Lovlina Borgohain, the Indian men’s hockey team and Bajrang Punia (Bronze). With this, India has surpassed their previous record haul of 6 Medals at London 2012.
Currently, India is placed 66th on the medals tally. Saturday is the last day when Indian athletes will compete at the remaining events. On Sunday, the closing ceremony of the Games will be held, where Bajrang Punia is set to be India’s flag-bearer.
Here’s the list of Indian athletes who won laurels at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics:
Neeraj Chopra: Gold Medal
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra created history on Saturday after he won a Gold medal at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics, ending a 100-year wait for India in track and field at Olympics.
Already considered as among the top contenders for the Gold, the 23-year-old Chopra raised the country’s expectations by topping the qualification round with a stunning first-round throw of 86.59m. Chopra started off by throwing 87.03 m in his first round in the finals, followed by 87.58 metres in his second attempt. Although he managed to throw only 76.79 m in his third attempt, his second throw of 87.58 was enough to earn him a gold medal.
His personal best of throwing the javelin at 88.07m. He broke his previous record with the throw, with the earlier being 88.06m for winning a gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games and 2018 Commonwealth Games. Chopra was also selected as the flag-bearer at the opening ceremony for India at the 2018 Asian Games, which marked his first Asian Games appearance.
Mirabai Chanu: Silver Medal
Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu opened up India’s medal tally at the Tokyo Olympics with a silver in the women’s 49kg—her first medal at the Olympics. The medal comes as a great achievement to Mirabai, who had failed to log a single legitimate lift in Rio 2016 Olympics.
It was India’s second medal at weightlifting event in Olympics, after Karnam Malleswari’s bronze at Sydney 2000.
Chanu lifted a total of 202 kg (87kg in snatch and 115kg in clean and jerk) during her four successful attempts across the competition. China’s Zhihui Hou bagged gold with a total of 210kg and created a new Olympic Record.
Mirabai Chanu has also won the World Championships and multiple medals at the Commonwealth Games. She was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India for her contributions to the sport. She was awarded the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award by the Government of India in 2018.
Ravi Dahiya: Silver Medal
Earlier this week, Ravi Dahiya became the second Indian athlete to bag a silver medal after he lost 7-4 to ROC’s Zavur Uguev in the men’s 57kg final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Sushil Kumar is the only other Indian wrestler to win a gold medal in wrestling competitions at the Olympics. Although, Kumar had also won a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics, held in London.
It is worth noting that India banks heavily on its wrestling contingent of athletes to bag her medals at the Olympics. This is the fourth consecutive Olympics where India has won a wrestling medal. India’s previous medals in wrestling came through KD Jadhav (bronze in 1952), Sushil (bronze in 2008 and silver in 2012), Yogeshwar Dutt (bronze in 2012) and Sakshi Malik (bronze in 2016).
Ravi Dahiya, a two-time Asian champion, is also a bronze medalist from the 2019 World Wrestling Championships.
PV Sindhu: Bronze Medal
Ace shuttler PV Sindhu created history on Sunday this week by winning the bronze medal match against China’s He Bing Jiao at the Tokyo Olympics.
Sindhu defeated her opponent 21-13, 21-15 to become the first Indian woman ever to win two individual Olympic medals. She had won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Over the span of her career, Sindhu has won medals at multiple tournaments, including the Olympics and on the BWF circuit including a gold at the 2019 World Championships. Sindhu won her first superseries title at the 2016 China Open and followed it up with four more finals in 2017, winning the titles in South Korea and India. Besides, she has won a silver medal each at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2018 Asian Games, and two bronze medals at the Uber Cup. She also rose to a career-high world ranking of no. 2 in April 2017.
Lovlina Borgohain: Bronze Medal
Indian woman boxer Lovlina Borgohain, who hails from the Golaghat district of Assam, won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics after losing in the semifinals to top seed Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey in the women’s 69kg class.
Borgohain had defeated Chinese Taipei’s Nein-Chin Chen in the quarter-finals to assure herself of a medal. Lovlina also became the third boxer to win a medal at the Olympics for India after Vijender Singh and MC Mary Kom’s bronze at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics respectively.
Borgohain’s inspiration to pursue her career in boxing is none other than the legendary American professional boxer Muhammad Ali. She is the first woman from Assam to qualify for the Olympics. She has won a bronze medal at the 2018 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships and the 2019 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. She has also won a gold medal at the 1st India Open International Boxing Tournament held in New Delhi and a silver medal at the 2nd India Open International Boxing Tournament held in Guwahati.
Indian men’s hockey team-Bronze Medal
Indian men’s hockey team ended a 41-year drought of medals at the Tokyo Olympics in a nail-biting contest. After being 3-1 down at one point, India made a spirited comeback to beat Germany 5-4 and claim the bronze medal.
It is their third Olympic bronze medal—after the 1968 and 1972 Games—and their 13th Olympic medal overall. Indian has won as many as eight gold medals in the Olympics, besides a silver medal and three bronze medals in the Olympics. This is India’s 12th medal in the category.
Bajrang Punia: Bronze Medal
Wrestler Bajrang Punia beat Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan 8:0 in his Bronze medal match to win the sixth medal for India in the Tokyo Games. He defeated Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov for a podium finish.
Apparently, Niyazbekov was the opponent who had won a World Championships bout in controversial circumstances against Bajrang Punia in 2019. Punia avenged his 2019 defeat with a dominant performance for the bronze medal. Punia is the only Indian wrestler to win 3 medals at the World Wrestling Championships.
