As a young athlete Neeraj Chopra on August 7 hurled a 800g javelin high and powerfully into the sky, it came gliding down at a distance of 87.58 m sending 1.3 billion people into a frenzy and ending the country's wait for over a century for an Olympic gold medal in athletics.
Not only did Chopra's (23) historic feat resulted in India ending the Tokyo Olympics 2020 on a golden note surpassing the 2012 London Olympics best haul of six medals but the northern state of Haryana also scripted another Olympics success story.
While India got its National Anthem moment with Chopra's top podium finish, there were two more occasions where Haryana's players got to the podium and the Tricolour fluttered with pride at the Olympics. The country racked up its best-ever Olympic medal haul of seven, out of which three individual medal winners and two players in India's men hockey team belonged to Haryana, known as a traditional powerhouse in sports like kabaddi, boxing and wrestling.
Despite having only two percent of the country's population, 30 sportspersons (about 25 percent) from Haryana were part of the biggest ever Indian contingent of 127 at Olympics this time.
As we look back at the stellar performance of our sportspersons at the Tokyo Olympics, the old adage “Sports run in Haryanvis blood” clearly holds sway.
Ecstatic scenes were witnessed at Chopra's native Khandra village in Haryana's Panipat district and the entire country on August 7 as the javelin thrower made history in his Olympic debut becoming India’s first track and field medalist, and only the second individual gold medalist after Abhinav Bindra’s shooting gold for India in the 2008 Olympic Games.
Beginning his journey from Haryana’s training grounds, Chopra, an Army Subedar first came into the limelight with a stunning gold medal at the 2016 Junior World Championships in Poland and later made strides with gold medals at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in 2018.
Alongwith Neeraj Chopra, who has become an overnight sensation, Haryana's wrestlers namely Ravi Kumar Dahiya with his silver medal, Bajrang Punia with bronze and Indian men's hockey team players Surender Kumar and Sumit Kumar ensured Haryana's domination at the biggest sporting event as the nation of a billion-plus waited for Olympic medals with bated breath.
In his Olympic debut, the Haryanvi lad Ravi Dahiya (23) ensured that his name is written in bold letters in the annals of Indian sporting history. A resident of Nahri village in Sonipat district, Dahiya became the second Indian wrestler after Sushil Kumar to have won an Olympic silver medal.
Dahiya's native village Nahri is also home to two other Olympians Mahavir Singh (1980 Moscow) and Amit Kumar Dahiya (2012 London). Perhaps, this prompted the Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to immediately announce the construction of a Wrestling Indoor Stadium with modern world class facilities at village Nahri to encourage more youth to take up the sports.
Another wrestler from the state, Bajrang Punia (27), who hails from Khudan village in Jhajjar district, clinched a bronze medal on the penultimate day of Olympics. In the past, Punia has made the country and the state proud at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.
Interestingly, all three individual Olympic medal winners from Haryana belong to the family of farmers.
Two hockey players from Haryana, Surender Kumar and Sumit Kumar also brought laurels to the country and the state as a resolute Indian men's hockey team managed to rewrite history clinching the bronze medal at Olympics after 41-year-long wait.
Not only this, nine women from Haryana were part of Indian women's hockey team that had put in a spirited performance finishing fourth at the Olympics. Blockbuster movie Dangal’s gender-nuanced rhetoric ‘Mhari chhoriyan chhoron se kam Hain ke’ could never sound so truthful as out of Haryana's 30 sportspersons at Olympics this time, 17 were women.
The Olympic feat is now new for Haryana, which is known as a centre of passion for sports with events especially wrestling being organized regularly in rural areas.
Till now, Indian individuals have won 23 medals in the Olympics. These winners are various states, with Haryana accounting for highest seven – Neeraj Chopra (Gold), Ravi Dahiya (Silver), boxer Vijender Singh (Bronze), Badminton player Saina Nehwal (Bronze), wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt (Bronze), wrestler Sakshi Malik (Bronze), Bajrang Punia (Bronze), all won after the year 2008.
As the celebration with sweets, traditional dance and fireworks continues across the state over the achievements of sons of soil at Olympics, it's like déjà vu all over again in Haryana.
Three years back also, Haryana celebrated more than anyone else in the country when the Indian contingent had returned from the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018 with an impressive tally of 66 medals, including 26 gold. The state's sportspersons, known for their physical resilience, had won a total of 22 medals including nine gold, six silver and seven bronze.
Also, the state, notorious for female foeticide, has seen sportswomen taking giant strides and setting new benchmarks over the past few decades. Considerable number of sportswomen, such as the Phogat sisters, Sakshi Malik, Manu Bhaker, Deepa Malik among others have not only won laurels at international sporting events but also broken barriers to encourage others to take up sports. Infact, Haryana's famous Phogat sisters' life and success in wrestling spawned the Bollywood biographical blockbuster Dangal.
With Haryana leading in producing medal winners, the sports experts say that the secret of success lies in the state's sports policy and perhaps, athletes' focus on a simple diet, rich in calories.
The famous saying: "Deshon mein desh Haryana, jahan doodh ghee ka khana" (The land of lands Haryana has a diet of milk and ghee) grabbed the media limelight again after Olympic bronze medallist Bajrang Punia recently shared that milk and dairy products make up a huge chunk of his diet.
The sports experts also say that the Army's strong influence in the state had laid the foundation for Haryana to turn into the country’s sporting powerhouse. The early Olympians from the agrarian Haryana had an Army background.
Also, it is no secret that most of the players in Haryana come from a humble background, remaining oblivious to the trappings of stardom and focusing to hone their skills.
The sustained effort of successive State Governments which give incentives including cash rewards, jobs to medal winners have also drawn more young people towards sports.
Since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when Haryanvi lad Vijender Singh became the first India boxer winning an Olympic medal by clinching a bronze, the state has been making headlines for its athletes.
From former Chief Ministers OP Chautala, Bhupinder Singh Hooda to current Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, everyone has focussed on promoting sports in the state.
Under the state's sports policy, the medallists at international sporting events are given high monetary rewards, a job and a plot at concessional rates.
A cash reward of Rs 6 crore is given to a player who wins a gold medal in Olympics, Rs 4 crore to a player who wins a silver medal and Rs 2.5 crore to those who win a bronze medal. Haryana also gives cash awards to winners in Paralympic Games .
Recently, a cash reward of Rs 50 lakh to sportspersons of the state was also announced for those achieving fourth position in Olympics. Each player participating in the Olympic Games is also given an incentive amount of Rs 15 lakh including Rs 5 lakh prior to the games for preparations.
While the journey from clinching an Olympic berth to becoming a medal winner has never been easy for any sportsperson, many athletes from Haryana have become sporting icons in the past decade, aspiring many youngsters to follow their dreams and bring laurels for the country in the sports arena.