Tokyo Olympics: India’s Medal Winning Spree & Foray into Exotic Sports

I remember watching the Sydney Olympics as a primary school kid. Karnam Malleswari lifted India’s spirits high with a Bronze medal. Similarly, in the 2004 Athens Olympics too, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won a silver. All this time, we were only hoping why can’t other Olympians win a medal. Most importantly, when will the Indian national anthem be played is something we all were longing for.

Abhinav Bindra fulfilled this dream in the 2008 Olympics. Also, we had two Bronze medals. India’s performance in the 2012 London Olympics was spectacular too with two silver and four bronze. On similar lines, or we must say, as a cherry on the cake, the Gold Medal won by Neeraj Chopra in Tokyo Olympics is amping up India’s hope. So is the Silver won by Mirabai Chanu.

Surprisingly, P V Sindhu was the Gold Medal hope. Also, we thought there would be some good advancements in areas of Archery, Boxing, and Wrestling. Even though representation in these areas did not disappoint, medals came from unexpected zones. Moreover, we had representations in some of the exotic sports where there are hardly any sportsmen or women from the country. Winning medals and creating Asian records is beyond appreciation.

Here are some surprises from the Indian Front in Tokyo Olympics

Golf

Aditi Ashok finished fourth in Golf Finals and it is in fact for the first time that she was a medal hope for India. Until Round 3, she maintained the second spot and slipped to the fourth at Round 4. Even though, she didn’t win a medal, ensuring an Indian representation in Golf at the Olympics in itself is an achievement.

Anirban Lahiri also had put a valiant fight in the Men’s Individual category. At the end of Round 4, he finished 42nd. Similarly, Udayan Mane also represented India in Men’s category and Diksha Dagar in Women’s. Therefore, the future of Golf as a sport in India looks promising. We can expect more representations in the coming days.

4×400 M Men’s Relay

Athletics is a competitive arena. The USA is the predominant player and in this season alone, the country has taken 100 medals from Athletics. Then, we have Jamaica which constitutes the most formidable players in the world.

In such a scenario, a team of four men from India getting qualified for the relay race is appreciable. Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Noah Nirmal Tom, Arokia Rajiv, and Amoj Jacob were the four who took the fourth spot and made an Asian Record in the Olympics. Most notably, Indian women took part in the 4×400 M Relay in the Athens Olympics before this.

Fencing

Fencing is a sport that is alien to India. Mostly, we see Europeans and Americans taking part in this sport. C A Bhavani Devi surprised everyone this time with participation. Her campaign lasted till the Table of 32, which is definitely an achievement. She will be the role model for upcoming Indian sportsmen and women in fencing.

Equestrian

Fouaad Mirza is carrying forward his family legacy of horse riding. Earlier, he won medals for India in Asian Games and was also honoured with Arjuna Award. Now, he became the third Indian ever to get qualified for Equestrian in the Olympics. This sport is again mostly dominated by Europeans. An Indian representation here is far beyond our dreams. Let us hope in the upcoming Olympics, he wins a medal.

Sailing

Sailing is another sophisticated sport to which many would not pay heed. But Vishnu Saravanan, an Indian Sailor ensured an Olympic representation for India. Earlier, he won a bronze medal for the country in the U-21 World Championships in Croatia.

This young man still has a long way to go. Remember, Abhinav Bindra had his debut in the 2004 Olympics. But he won a Gold in 2008. Therefore, the upcoming will be a promising one for India.

Rowing

Arvind Singh and Arjun Lal made a valiant fight for India in Rowing. They reached the Finals and finished 5th. The earlier representations in Rio Olympics as well as other Olympics had an insignificant show from Indians. For the very first time, these two rowers fought valiantly for India and have sealed a bright future in rowing for the country.

Gymnastics

Pranati Nayak was the lone gymnast representing India this time. Earlier, in Rio Olympics, Dipa Karmakar became the first Indian woman to get qualified for this. However, both Dipa in Rio and Pranati in Tokyo couldn’t go further. This only calls for more motivation because Artistics Gymnastics is not a recognized sport in India. Yet, these two women are setting benchmarks.

Javelin Throw

Neeraj Chopra is now called the Golden Athlete/the Golden Boy. His sheer determination to overtake veteran athletes yesterday right from the beginning deserves more credit. He stood at the top with the highest throw since the beginning. While the veterans were trying hard to break his record, they couldn’t cross his mark. As a result, Indian National Anthem was played at the Tokyo Olympics.

More Medal Hope in the Coming Years

With these representations, the sports arena in India is all set to change. Already the government had sponsored the training of all these Sportsters and in the coming years, an ecosystem for sports to thrive in the country will also come up. Therefore, the future is bright for Indian Sports.