India capped off its best-ever performance in the Olympics with a haul of seven medals, including a Gold.
As the Tokyo Olympics come to a close, let’s take a look at the medallists and those who came within touching distance of glory but couldn’t quite make it to the podium.
Neeraj Chopra: Gold
They say save the best for last and for India it came true at the Tokyo Games. Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra became only the second Indian to win an individual Gold in the Olympics.
After romanticising stories about ‘nearly there’ for years, India finally had its first track-and-field medal winner, thanks to Chopra’s throw of 87.58m.
The 23-year-old, a Subedar with 4 Rajputana Rifles in the Indian Army, has been a consistent performer since bursting into the scene with a historic Gold in the junior world championships in 2016 with an Under-20 world record of 86.48m which still stands.
His other achievements include Gold medals in the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, besides the top finish in the 2017 Asian Championships.
Mirabai Chanu: Silver
The pint-sized weightlifter from Manipuri lifted the spirits of the entire nation as she ended a 21-year wait for a medal in weightlifting, clinching a Silver medal in the 49kg category to open India’s account on the very first day of competitions on July 24.
The 26-year-old lifted a total of 202kg (87kg+115kg), finally exorcising the ghosts of her disastrous outing in the 2016 Rio Games where she had failed to log a single legitimate lift.
Ravi Dahiya: Silver
The 23-year-grappler born in the Nahri village of the Sonepat district in Haryana stormed to the final of the men’s 57kg freestyle event without any fuss. Although, he fetched a Silver, his immense strength and stamina along with technical prowess impressed one and all.
Dahiya is a product of the national capital’s Chhatrasal Stadium, which has already given India two Olympic medallists — Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt.
PV Sindhu: Bronze
One of the strongest medal contenders heading to the Tokyo Olympics, PV Sindhu delivered once again. This time snatching a Bronze.
The 26-year-old etched her name among the all-time greats after winning women’s singles Bronze medal to add to the Silver she won at Rio de Janeiro five years back. She became the first Indian woman and second overall from the country to achieve the feat.
Such was her dominance at the Tokyo Games that she dropped only two games, both in the semifinal loss to Tai Tzu Ying, in six matches.
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.
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.
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.
Bajrang Punia: Bronze
A favourite heading into the Games, Bajrang didn’t quite live up to the sky-high expectations of becoming the first Indian wrestler to win the Gold, but the 27-year-old did return from Tokyo with a Bronze medal, an impressive feat in a nation starved for success at the grandest sporting spectacle.
Those who were so close yet so far
Women’s hockey team
From a bottom-place finish at Rio 2016, the Indian women’s team capped a remarkable journey at Tokyo Olympics, finishing a creditable fourth.
Although the team’s dream of securing its maiden Olympic medal remained unfulfilled as it lost 3-4 to Great Britain in the closely contested Bronze medal play-off, the side recorded its best ever finish at the Games.
After three losses on the trot, everyone had written them off. But a moment of brilliance by skipper Rani Rampal that led to a late strike by Navneet Kaur in the game against Ireland kept the team’s quarterfinal hopes alive.
A win against South Africa, that saw Vandana Kataria strike a hat-trick, and a favourable result helped ensure India’s passage to the quarterfinal, where drag flick specialist Gurjit Kaur rose to the occasion when it mattered the most, converting a PC against the mighty Australians.
With the odds stacked firmly against them a brave and determined women’s team etched its name in the history books by entering its maiden Olympic semifinals.
Deepak Punia
After an impressive campaign that saw him race to the semifinals, Deepak Punia was only 10 seconds away from a medal, but the 22-year-old debutant ended up conceding a take-down in the 86kg freestyle Bronze medal play-off.
Aditi Ashok
Aditi Ashok captured the imagination of the entire country as sports lovers turned on their tv sets in the wee hours to watch golf, trying their hardest to understand the concepts of the game.
Ranked 200 in the world, the 23-year-old from Bengaluru competed toe-to-toe against the best golfers in the world. But, alas it wasn’t meant to be as after coming agonisingly close, Aditi finished fourth.