Tribute to our heroes: Five of India’s many firsts at Tokyo Olympics

After the COVID-19 pandemic led to its delay, the Tokyo Olympics enthralled everyone from July 23 to August 8. Though they weren’t expected to top the medal’s tally, the focus was also on India. The Asian country had 124 participants in 18 sports and a lot was expected of them. In the end, they had their most successful Olympic campaign, winning one gold, two silvers, and four bronzes.

While Neeraj Chopra won the gold, weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and wrestler Ravi Dahiya won the silver medals. Shuttler PV Sindhu, boxer Lovlina Borgohain, wrestler Bajrang Punia, and the men’s hockey team walked away with the bronze medals. Wrestler Vinesh Phogat, table tennis players Manika Batra and Sharath Kamal, archer Atanu Das and many others also showed their class.

After the two-week spectacle, CricTracker decided to pay tribute to the Indian contingent. Though it’s a cricket-centric platform, we understand the enormity of India’s achievement in Tokyo. Even during a pre-day show on Sony during India’s opening Test against England at the Trent Bridge in Nottingham, former Indian hockey captain Viren Rasquinha was invited.

The likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Harsha Bhogle also discussed India’s achievements at the Olympics. Cricketers from around the world shared tweets as well when the players performed well. Hence, one can comprehend the titanic platform the Olympics is. The entire sporting fraternity rooted for the Indian players over the last 14 days, so did we at CricTracker.

On that note, let’s take a look at five records Team India made in Tokyo:

1. Aditi Ashok becomes India’s most successful golfer at the Olympics

In Tokyo, Golf wasn’t one of the sports India were expected to get a medal in. In the men’s individual category, Anirban Lahiri finished 42nd, but it was the 23-year-old Aditi Ashok, who stole the limelight. Despite starting as the 200th ranked golfer, she stayed in contention for a medal after the first three rounds.

Being placed second, she was on the verge of entering the history books. However, Aditi missed out in the final round and finished fourth among the 60 golfers at the golf course in Saitama. While World No.1 Nelly Korda won the gold medal, Japan’s Mone Inami and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko won the silver and bronze respectively.

In the final round, she churned out a 3 under 68 score to go with five birdies, but her valiant efforts weren’t enough to get her a medal. However, despite not finishing at the podium, she walked away as India’s most successful golfer at the Olympics.

Back in 2016, she became the youngest golfer in Rio at the age of 18 years and finished 41st. Five years later, she gave the best a run of their money. Ashok might not have won a medal, but has given India hope of succeeding in a sport where they haven’t had much success.

2. Kamalpreet Kaur- India’s most successful discus thrower at the Olympics

India haven’t had a lot of success in discus throw over the years. Back in the 2012 London Olympics, Haryana’s Krishna Poonia ended her journey, having finished at sixth in the table. She threw her best of 63.62 in her penultimate attempt with 62.42 being her second-best effort.

Nine years later in 2021, Punjab’s Kamalpreet Kaur breached her numbers at the Tokyo Olympics with relative ease. The 25-year-old thrower bettered Poonia’s number in the second attempt of her qualification. She threw 63.97m and followed it up with a 64m throw in her third and final attempt.

The throws ensured her a direct entry into the finals. Kamalpreet had hopes of winning the medal as back in the 2016 Rio Olympics, Denia Caballero from Cuba had won the bronze with a throw of 65.34. In the finals, she threw her best of 63.70 and ended at the sixth position among the 12 athletes.

Had she thrown her personal best of 66.59, recorded during the Indian Grand Prix 4, she would be gotten the bronze medal. United States’ Valarie Allman won the gold with a 68.98m throw. Kristin Pudenz from Germany and Yaime Perez from Cuba won the silver and bronzes respectively.

3. PV Sindhu- First Indian woman with back-to-back Olympic medal

PV Sindhu is India’s most decorated female athlete, without much of a doubt. The 26-year-old had endured heartbreak after she lost to Spain’s Carolina Marin in the women’s individual final in the Rio Olympics. Sindhu had lost the match 21-19, 12-21, 15-21.

However, the fact that she fetched India a silver medal in badminton earned her accolades from every nook and corner of the country. In 2021, the pressure was on her since she was already an Olympic medalist. Sindhu stormed into the semi-final, without dropping a single set.

However, her clash against Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu-Ying was expected to be a closely fought affair. The latter was World No.1 and she played like one in the semis. The first set was a humdinger, but the top-ranked player won the game 21-18, 21-12. The duo had faced each other a lot of times previously, and Sindhu had beaten her quite a few times.

But this time around, the Indian had to bow down. Nevertheless, she didn’t have many troubles in beating China’s He Bingjiao in the bronze medal match. She won the match 21-13, 21-15 to end on a high. With the triumph, Sindhu also became India’s first woman to win back-to-back Olympic medals.

4. India women’s hockey team’s maiden Olympic quarterfinal and semi-final

1980 was a historic year for Indian hockey. The men’s team won their eighth gold medal under Vasudevan Baskaran’s leadership. The Moscow Olympics also saw the women’s team making its debut in the mega event. From there on, until 2016, Indian hockey went into the doldrums.

In fact, in 2008, India failed to qualify for the Olympics for the maiden time since their debut in 1928. However, Sjoerd Marjine’s appointment in February 2017 marked the turnaround of Indian hockey. In Tokyo, while the men’s team, led by Manpreet Singh, won an Olympic medal after 41 years, the women’s team didn’t disappoint one bit.

Under Marjine’s tutelage, Rani Rampal and Co stormed to their maiden Olympic quarterfinal match against Australia, also the No.1 team in the world. Defying the odds, they stunned the Aussies, winning the match 1-0 after Gurjit Kaur scored. However, they lost to Argentina 1-2 in the semi-final.

In the bronze medal match against Great Britain, they took a 3-2 lead before crumbling in the second half. After they lost the game 3-4, their players were seen shedding tears on the field with the Great Britain players consoling them.

5. Neeraj Chopra first Athletic gold for India in Olympics

Prior to the Tokyo Olympics, the legendary PT Usha had pinned hopes on javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra to win an Olympic medal. Usha, who missed out in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics by the barest of margins, stated that Chopra was India’s “best bet” to win an Olympic medal.

Back in March, Chopra had produced her personal best of 88.07, which is also a national record. In the qualification round, he topped Group A with a throw of 86.65m. In the final on Saturday, Chopra upped his game and managed an 87.58 meters throw in his very first attempt.

After the javelin left his hand, Chopra raised his hand in delight. The 23-year-old became India’s second Olympic medal winner in Athletics and the first to get his hands on the coveted gold medal. Back in 1990, British-Indian athlete, Norman Pritchard had won two medals at the Games.

The medals won by the Kolkata-born athlete have been accredited to India. As far as Neeraj was concerned, after he won, Usha dropped a heartfelt tweet for him. Narendra Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, President Ramnath Kovind, and many others also showered praises on Chopra.