India capped off its best-ever performance in the Olympics with a haul of seven medals, including a gold. Thus, the country bettered their previous best performance of the London Olympics when they had bagged a total of six medals. There were inspiring performances from the Indian athletes throughout the Tokyo Olympic 2020.

 

As the Tokyo Olympic come to a close, we take a look at all the seven medallists.

1. Mirabai Chanu, Silver, 49 kg weightlifting

It was Mirabai Chanu, who opened the account with a silver in the women’s 49kg weightlifting category when she lifted a total of 202kg (87kg+115kg). The 26-year-old, hailing from Nongpok Kakching village at the foothills of Imphal East district in Manipur, ended India’s 21-year wait for a weightlifting medal on the first day, ensuring India began with a bang.

 

2. PV Sindhu

Bronze, women’s singles badminton

PV Sindhu became the first Indian woman and only the second Indian athlete — after Sushil Kumar — to win two individual Olympic medals. The ace shuttler from Hyderabad beat China’s He Bing Jiao 21-13, 21-15 to win the bronze medal in the women’s singles competition.

 

3. Lovlina Borgohain: Bronze

Competing in her maiden Olympics, Borgohain carved a niche for herself in the history of Indian women’s boxing by clinching a bronze — India’s lone boxing medal at the Tokyo Games.

The 23-year-old, who was brought up in Baro Mukhia village of Assam’s Golaghat district, used to be a kickboxer, like her two elder sisters, before she turned to box.

A day before she was to leave with the Olympic-bound boxers group for a training camp to Europe, Borgohain had contracted COVID-19. But the missed opportunity couldn’t stop her from having a remarkable campaign in which she upstaged former world champion Nien-Chin Chen of Chinese Taipei in the 69kg category.

With the feat, she became only the third Indian boxer ever, after Vijender Singh and MC Mary Kom, to finish on the podium at the quadrennial showpiece.

 

 4. Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Silver, men’s 57kg freestyle wrestling.

RAvi, 23, became the second Indian debutant to win a medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Competing in the men’s 57kg freestyle wrestling, Dahiya clinched silver and became the seventh Indian to win a silver medal at the Olympics in an individual event. The Sonipat-born grappler had to settle for the second spot after he lost 7-4 to two-time world champion Zavur Uguev (ROC).

5. Men’s hockey team: Bronze.

Four decades of pain and disappointment was washed away as the Indian men’s hockey team clinched the bronze, the country’s 12th Olympic medal in the sport that came after a gap of 41 years.

It wasn’t gold but it was enough to spearhead the revival of the sport in a country that attaches so much sentimental value to it.

After the initial hiccup which saw the team being steam-rolled 1-7 by Australia in their second game, Manpreet Singh and his men made a strong comeback only losing to eventual champions Belgium.

While Manpreet inspired the team with his leadership, goalkeeper PR Sreejesh had a phenomenal tournament, standing like a wall when the opposition mounted an attack.

It seemed the team was destined to win. How else could one explain the addition of Simranjeet Singh, who scored a brace in the crucial bronze playoff, when he wasn’t even a part of the original squad and had been added following the International Olympic Committee’s decision to allow “alternate athletes” in team events because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

6. BAJRANG PUNIA: BRONZE.

Wrestler Bajrang Punia, also in his debut appearance at the quadrennial event, beat Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov in the men’s 65kg freestyle wrestling playoff to claim the bronze medal. Punia, who belongs to Khuddan village in Jhajjar district, pinned Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov.

It was India’s sixth medal of the Tokyo Olympics – equalling their best-ever haul at a single edition of the Olympics.

 

7. Neeraj Chopra

Neeraj Chopra became India’s second individual Olympic champion — after Abhinav Bindra — with his men’s javelin throw gold at Tokyo 2020. He is also independent India’s first Olympian to win a medal in athletics/track and field. With his herculean effort, the country surpassed the previous best haul of six medals (without a gold) in the 2012 London Games.