who was the first indian to win olympic medal
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India competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. India has appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympics since 1920, although it made its official debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. The nation sent its largest-ever contingent of 126 competitors to the 2020 Games. To date, the 2020 Summer Olympics are the most successful Games for India since its first regular Olympics appearance in 1920, with Indian Olympians winning 7 medals (1 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze). The Indian contingent participated in a record 69 events, and earned medals across 18 athletic disciplines. In the men's javelin throw, Neeraj Chopra won India's first gold medal in athletics, the nation's second ever individual gold and first individual gold since the Beijing 2008 Olympics, won by Abhinav Bindra (Shooting). This was also India's first athletics medal since its first Olympics appearance as an independent nation in 1948, and its third overall after Norman Pritchard's silver medals in 1900. Saikhom Mirabai Chanu won India's first silver in women's weightlifting (49 kg), becoming the first Indian Olympic medallist in the sport since 2000. P. V. Sindhu won a bronze in women's badminton to become the first Indian female athlete and second Indian to win two consecutive Olympic medals in individual events (having won a silver medal in 2016). The men's national field hockey team won the bronze medal, their first Olympic medal since 1980. The men's 4 x 400m relay team set a new Asian record of 3:00.25. Aditi Ashok in women's golf and Deepak Punia in men's freestyle wrestling (86 kg) both placed fourth in final rankings, as did the women's national field hockey team, which achieved its best performance since its Olympics debut in 1980. Medalists Medals by sport Medals by gender Medalists Competitors Archery Three Indian archers qualified for the men's events by reaching the quarterfinal stage of the men's team recurve at the 2019 World Archery Championships in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. Another Indian archer scored a shoot-off victory in the quarterfinal round of the women's individual recurve to book one of three available spots at the 2019 Asian Championships in Bangkok, Thailand. The full Indian archery squad was officially announced on 8 March 2021, with veteran Tarundeep Rai and world-number-nine seed Deepika Kumari slated to shoot at their third Olympics. Athletics Indian athletes further achieved the entry standards, either by reaching the qualifying marks or by world ranking, in the following track and field events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event): Track & road events Men Women Mixed Field events Badminton India entered four badminton players for each of the following events into the Olympic tournament based on the BWF World Race to Tokyo Rankings; one entry each in the men's and women's singles and a pair in the men's doubles. Boxing India entered
India at the 2020 Summer Olympics
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India first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, with a lone athlete Norman Pritchard winning two medals – both silver – in athletics and became the first Asian nation to win an Olympic medal. The nation first sent a team to the Summer Olympic Games in 1920 and has participated in every Summer Games since then. India has also competed at several Winter Olympic Games beginning in 1964. Indian athletes have won 35 medals, all at the Summer Games. For a period of time, the Indian Men's Field Hockey Team was dominant in Olympic competition, winning eleven medals in twelve Olympics between 1928 and 1980. The run included eight gold medals of which six were won consecutively from 1928 to 1956. History During British Imperial rule Despite being under British rule until 1947, India participated in the Olympic Games separately from the British Olympic Team. India sent its first athlete to the Summer Olympics for the 1900 Games, but an Indian national team did not compete at the Summer Olympics until 1920. Ahead of the 1920 Games, Sir Dorabji Tata and Governor of Bombay George Lloyd helped India secure representation at the International Olympic Committee, enabling it to participate in the Games (see India at the 1920 Olympic Games). India then sent a team to the 1920 Olympics, comprising three athletes, two wrestlers, and managers Sohrab Bhoot and A. H. A. Fyzee. The Indian Olympic movement was then established during the 1920s: some founders of this movement were Dorabji Tata, A.G. Noehren (Madras College of Physical Education), H.C. Buck (Madras College of Physical Education), Moinul Haq (Bihar sports associations), S. Bhoot (Bombay Olympic Association), A.S. Bhagwat (Deccan Gymkhana), and Guru Dutt Sondhi (Punjab Olympic Association); Lt. Col H.L.O. Garrett (from the Government College Lahore and Punjab Olympic Association) and Sagnik Poddar (of St. Stephen's School) helped organise some early national games; and prominent patrons included Maharajas and royal princes such as Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, Ranjitsinhji of Nawanagar, the Maharaja of Kapurthala, and the Maharaja of Burdwan. In 1923, a provisional All India Olympic Committee was formed, and in February 1924, the All India Olympic Games (that later became the National Games of India) were held to select a team for the 1924 Summer Olympics. The Indian delegation at the Paris Olympics comprised seven athletes, seven tennis players and team manager Harry Buck. In 1927, the provisional Indian Olympic Committee formally became the Indian Olympic Association (IOA); its main tasks were to promote the development of sports in India, choose host cities for the national games, and send teams selected from the national games to the Summer Olympics. Thus, at the 1928 national games, it selected seven athletes to represent India at the next Summer Olympics, with Sondhi as manager. By this time, the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) had also been established and it sent a hockey team to the Summer Olympics. The national hockey team was similarly sent to the 1932 Games along with four athletes and one
India at the Olympics
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In India, the sport of athletics was introduced during the period of the British Raj. The sport is governed at national level by the Athletics Federation of India, which was formed in 1946. Despite its large population, few Indian athletes have won a medal in a global or major championship. This began to change in the 21st century, when Indians started taking greater interest in athletics more generally and improved facilities for the sport began to be built at a local level. At a continental level, it has been among the more successful Asian nations, though some distance behind China and Japan. At the national level, there are three major athletics competitions: the annual Indian National Open Athletics Championships and Indian Inter State Senior Athletics Championships (both first held in 1961), and the quadrennial National Games of India (first held in 1924). An Indian National Championships event predated the Open and Inter State ones, being held from 1924 until 1961. An Indian Marathon Championships was first contested in 1938, while the Indian Cross Country Championships celebrated its 50th edition in 2015. An Indian Racewalking Championships was established in 2014. In addition to the main senior championships there are championships for under-20 and under-18 athletes at national and sub-national levels, as well as senior, non-championship competitions in the form of the Athletics Federation Cup and Indian Athletics Grand Prix tour. History 20th century At the Olympic Games, the first Indian competitor was Norman Pritchard, an Anglo-Indian, who won silver medals in the 200 metres and 200 metres hurdles at the 1900 Summer Olympics. These remain the only athletics medals for 120 years until Neeraj Chopra won gold medal in Jevelin throw at 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Neeraj created the history by throwing his Jevelin to 87.58 meters in the final at Tokyo. He became first track and field athlete of India, who won gold medal at Olympics. The first indigenous Indians to compete at the games were sprinter Purma Bannerjee, and distance runners Phadeppa Chaugule and Sadashir Datar at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics. The nation continued to send athletes to the Olympic athletics competition every four years, with Nilima Ghose and Mary D'Souza Sequeira becoming independent India's first female Olympians at the 1952 Helsinki Games. At a regional level, India took part in the 1930 Far Eastern Championship Games, but failed to win any medals. The nation hosted the Western Asiatic Games and won all but three of the athletics events. India was the host of the debut Asian Games in 1951 and finished second to Japan in the athletics medal table, which included a men's sprint double by Lavy Pinto and two silvers in women's sprints by Roshan Mistry. The country was less successful at the 1954 Asian Games, though Parduman Singh Brar managed a shot put/javelin double and Christine Brown, Stephie D'Souza, Violet Peters, Mary D'Souza Sequeira gave India its first women athletics gold medal, taking the 4 × 100 metres relay title. Milkha Singh was India's first athlete to
Athletics in India
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Norman Gilbert Pritchard (23 June 1875 – 30 October 1929), also known by his stage name Norman Trevor, was a British-Indian athlete and actor who became the first Asian-born athlete to win an Olympic medal when he won two silver medals in athletics at the 1900 Paris Olympics representing India. He won India's first medal at the Olympics in the 200 metres and the 200 metres hurdles. Biography Norman Pritchard was born in Calcutta to George Petersen Pritchard and Helen Maynard Pritchard. Norman Pritchard was the first Indian athlete to participate in the Olympic Games and was also the first to win an Olympic medal and also represent an Asian nation. He won two silver medals at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, coming second in the 200 metres behind Walter Tewksbury of the United States and second in the 200 metres hurdles behind the legendary Alvin Kraenzlein, also of the United States. He reached the final of the 110 metres hurdles, but did not finish, and also participated in the 60 metres and 100 metres sprints, in which he failed to qualify for the finals. In 2005 the IAAF published the official track and field statistics for the 2004 Summer Olympics. In the historical records section Pritchard was listed as having competed for Great Britain in 1900. Research by Olympic historians has shown that Pritchard was indeed chosen to represent Great Britain after competing in the British AAA championship in June 1900. However, the IOC still regards Pritchard as having competed for India, and his two medals are credited to India. Pritchard won the Bengal province 100 yards sprint title for seven consecutive years, from 1894 to 1900 and set a meet record in 1898–99. He also won the 440 yards (¼ mile) run and the 120 yards hurdles. He studied at St. Xavier's College, Calcutta, and is credited with the first hat-trick in an open football tournament in India, for Saint Xavier's against Sovabazar in July 1897. He served as Secretary of the Indian Football Association from 1900 to 1902. He moved permanently to Britain in 1905. He then moved to the United States to pursue a career in acting and became the first Olympian to act in silent Hollywood movies under the screen name, Norman Trevor. Death He died in Los Angeles of a brain malady on 30 October 1929. Selected filmography The Ivory Snuff Box (1915) The Daughter Pays (1920) Romance (1920) The Black Panther's Cub (1921) Jane Eyre (1921) The Side Show of Life (1924) Roulette (1924) Wages of Virtue (1924) The Man Who Found Himself (1925) Dancing Mothers (1926) The Ace of Cads (1926) The Song and Dance Man (1926) Beau Geste (1926) The Warning (1927) New York (1927) Afraid to Love (1927) The Wizard (1927) The Music Master (1927) Children of Divorce (1927) Sorrell and Son (1927) The Siren (1927) Mad Hour (1928) Restless Youth (1928) The Love Trap (1929) See also India at the Summer Olympics References External links With Florence Reed
Norman Pritchard
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Manuel Frederick (born 20 October 1947) is an Indian field hockey player who played as goalkeeper from Kannur district in Kerala. He won a bronze medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. He is the 1st Keralite to win an Olympic medal. The second Keralite to win an Olympic medal is P. R. Sreejesh who won a Bronze on 5th Aug 2021 in Tokyo Olympics. Both medals for Kerala have come via the goalkeepers of the National Hockey Team. In 2019, he was awarded Dhyan Chand Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sports and Games by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Biography Manuel Frederick was born on 1947 October 20, at Burnasserry in Kannur district of Kerala state to Joseph and Sara. Before started playing hockey, he used to play football for B.M.P U.P School in Kannur. References External links Manuel Frederick at DatabaseOlympics.com (archived) 1948 births Living people Olympic field hockey players for India Field hockey players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Indian male field hockey players Olympic bronze medalists for India Olympic medalists in field hockey Field hockey players from Kerala People from Kannur district Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Dhyan Chand Award
Manuel Frederick
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Sajan Prakash (born 14 September 1993) is an Indian swimmer who specialises in freestyle, butterfly and medley events. At the 2015 National Games in Kerala, he set a record on 8 February 2015 by winning 6 gold and 3 Silver medals, and became the best athlete of the Indian National Games, held at Trivandrum, Kerala. He competed at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics in the 200 meter butterfly event. He became the first ever Indian swimmer to breach the FINA "A" Olympic qualification time when he clocked an Indian national record time of 1:56.38 in the 200 m butterfly event at the 2021 Sette Colli Trophy in Rome. With this time he qualified for the 200 m butterfly event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. As of June 2021, he is the holder of 11 Indian national swimming records in events spanning freestyle, butterfly, medley and relay categories. Sajan is currently training with Aqua Nation Sports Academy (ANSA) based in Dubai. Personal life Sajan Prakash hails from Idukki district of Kerala. He was raised in Neyveli, Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu. His mother V.J.Shantymol is also a former athlete and has represented India in several national and international events. He started training at the Neyveli Lignite City Swimming Club, Neyveli, Tamil Nadu. He did his schooling in St. Paul's Matriculation Higher Secondary School, NLC Boys Higher Secondary School, Jawahar Higher Secondary School, Neyveli, Tamil Nadu. He completed his graduation in computer applications from Annamalai University, Chidambaram. Now he joined in Kerala Police as an Officer Commanding . A pool was opened in Neyveli after his name . Career In the Sette Colli Trophy in Rome, Sajan Prakash makes history as he became the first Indian swimmer, where he breached the Olympic qualification by just 10 milliseconds in the 200m butterfly event. He won the gold medal in the men's 200m butterfly event at the FINA-accredited Olympic Qualifying event. Olympics Sajan finished at 28th position in the 200m butterfly event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Sajan finished at 24th position in the 200m butterfly event at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Sajan finished at 46th position in the 100m butterfly event at the 2020 Summer Olympics with a timing of 53:45secs . Asian Games At the Asian Games 2018, Prakash participated in 100m and 200m butterfly, Freestyle Relay, and Freestyle Relay. Prakash finished at 5th position in 200m Butterfly clocking timing of 1:57.75 and in the Freestyle relay, he finished at 8th position in the finals. Commonwealth Games Prakash finished 8th in the finals of the 200m butterfly event at the Commonwealth Games 2018. Achievements Won gold medal in 100m butterfly stroke and silver medal in 200m freestyle at 36th National Games held in Gujarat. Won 6 gold medals and 3 silver medals at the 35th National Games, held in Kerala India and won the Best Athlete award of 2015. Only Indian male swimmer to participate at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Won a silver medal in the 100m butterfly category at the 2017 Asian
Sajan Prakash
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Kalayathumkuzhi Mathews Binu (born 20 December 1980) is an Indian track and field athlete from Kerala who specializes in 400 metres and 800 metres. He held the current 400 metres national record of 45.48 s set at the 2004 Athens Olympics on 20 August 2004 which was later broken by Mohammad Anas 45.32 sec in Commonwealth games , Gold coast 2018 sec. He broke the 44-year-old Olympics mark (by an Indian) held by Milkha Singh who set an Indian National Record with a timing of 45.73 s at the 1960 Rome Olympics. He and his elder sister K. M. Beenamol made history when they became the first Indian siblings to win medals in a major international competition. They won medals at the Busan Asian Games (2002). While Binu won the men's 800 metres silver, his sister won the gold medal in the women's event. Binu received the Arjuna Award for the year 2006 for his achievements in the Indian athletics. Biography Hailing from the Idukki district of Kerala, Binu was born on 20 December 1980. Following the footsteps of his sister Beenamol, he choose athletics as his career. Binu was coached by Yuri from Ukraine who also coached Beenamol. References External links Malayali people Athletes from Kerala Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for India Recipients of the Arjuna Award Indian male sprinters 1980 births Living people Indian male middle-distance runners People from Idukki district Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for India Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games
K. M. Binu
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Badminton is a popular sport in India. Badminton in India is managed by the Badminton Association of India. Indian shuttlers P. V. Sindhu, Lakshya Sen, H. S. Prannoy, and the doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty are ranked amongst the Top-10 in the current BWF world rankings. Prakash Padukone was the first player from India to achieve the world no. 1 spot in the game, after which Srikanth Kidambi became the second male player to make it to the top spot in April 2018. Saina Nehwal is the first female player from India to achieve the world no. 1 spot, which she did in April 2015, and the first Indian badminton player to win a medal at the Olympic Games. P. V. Sindhu is the first Indian to become the badminton World Champion, which she achieved in 2019, and the only badminton player from India to win two consecutive medals at the Olympic Games. The most successful doubles player from India is Jwala Gutta, who is the only Indian to have been ranked in the Top-10 of two categories. She peaked at no. 6 with Valiyaveetil Diju in mixed doubles and at no. 10 with Ashwini Ponnappa in women's doubles. Other successful players include Pullela Gopichand, Aparna Popat, Syed Modi, Nandu Natekar, Chetan Anand, Parupalli Kashyap, B. Sai Praneeth, Sameer Verma and N. Sikki Reddy. History Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand both won the All England Open in 1980 and 2001 respectively, making them the only Indians to win the prestigious title. Saina Nehwal won the bronze medal in the individual women's competition at the 2012 London Olympic Games, the first Olympic medal for the country in badminton. P. V. Sindhu won the second and the third Olympic medals in badminton for India, winning a silver and a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics respectively. India has won several medals at the BWF World Championships as well, with Prakash Padukone winning the first in 1982. The doubles pairing of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa became the first women to win a medal when they won the bronze in 2011. P. V. Sindhu then won consecutive bronze medals at 2013 and 2014 editions, the first Indian player to do so. Saina Nehwal won a first-ever silver at the 2015 Championships, and then a bronze in 2017. P. V. Sindhu won silver in consecutive editions in 2017 and 2018. Sindhu then went on to win the gold at the 2019 BWF World Championships and become the first Indian to ever finish on top of the podium. At the same edition, B. Sai Praneeth medalled in the men's singles after 36 years, clinching the bronze. As a result, for the first time, India won medals in two different disciplines in the same BWF World Championships edition. In 2021, Lakshya Sen won the bronze medal in men's singles while Srikanth Kidambi won the silver, the first time India had two medallists in the same edition in the men's
Badminton in India
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Mary D'Souza Sequeira (born 18 July 1931) is an Indian female Olympian who competed internationally in track and field and field hockey. She competed in the women's 100 and 200 metres at the 1952 Summer Olympics. D'Souza won a bronze medal in the 200 metres and a silver medal in the relay at the 1951 Asian Games with Pat Mendonca (her cousin), Banoo Gulzar and Roshan Mistry. D'Souza won a gold medal in the 1954 Asian Games in Manila in the relay, with Stephie D'Souza, Violet Peters and Christine Brown in a time of 49.5 seconds. She held the Asian records in 100 and 200 meters in 1956. She is the first Indian double international. She played field hockey for India in 1953 in Folkestone, England, in 1956 in Australia, in the IWFHA International Tournament and in test matches vs Japan and Ceylon. Career In 1951, D'Souza competed in the First Asian Games in New Delhi, winning a silver medal in the 4x100 meter relay and a bronze in the 200 meters. First Indian Female Team Asian Games. In the Second Asian Games in Manila in 1954 she won a gold medal in the 4x100 meter relay. 1954 Asian Games medal table First Indian Female Gold Medal Asian Games. She set Indian national records in track and field from 1951 to 1957 100 meters, 200 meters and 80m hurdles. She was the Asian record holder with 12.3 seconds over 100 meters and 12.5 seconds over 200 meters. She was the first female track and field contingent to go to the Olympics from India in 1952. She competed in the 100m and 200m. She was a field hockey player with India's first women's field hockey team, in the First IFWHA International Women's Field Hockey World Tournament in Folkestone, UK, 1953 In 1956 she represented India at the Australian International Women's Field Hockey Tournament. She was the top scorer for India in goals in the tournament. She played India vs Ceylon matches, as right winger assisted in both goals She was with the Indian team that played in the Prime Ministers Defense Fund Field Hockey Tour in 1961. She also took part in the India vs Ceylon (Sri Lanka) field hockey tour in India and the India vs Japan field hockey test matches touring India in 1964 She was an Indian Railways sports officer who coached and recruited sportspeople for Indian Railways teams and conducted Inter Railway Tournaments. She was also a district commissioners with the Girl Guides(Scouts). She earned the Dhyan Chand Award in 2013 from the Government of India. References External links 1931 births Living people Indian female field hockey players Indian female sprinters Athletes from Goa Field hockey players from Goa Sportswomen from Goa Recipients of the Dhyan Chand Award Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for India Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1951 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1954 Asian Games
Mary D'Souza Sequeira
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Dipa Karmakar (born 9 August 1993) is an Indian Gymnast from Tripura State. She is the first female gymnast from India to compete in the Olympics. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, in the vault event final, she finished in 4th place. At the Rio Olympics, she lost an Olympic medal by just 0.15 points; due to her historic achievement at the Rio Olympics, she became a well-known gymnast as well as a face of gymnastics in India. In the final she performed the difficult Prodonova vault and competed against the world's top gymnasts such as Simone Biles of the United States, Maria Paseka and Giulia Steingrubber, who won the gold, silver, and bronze medals respectively. Karmakar first gained attention when she won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, becoming the first Indian female gymnast to do so in the history of the Games. She also won a bronze medal at the Asian Gymnastics Championships and finished fifth at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, both firsts for her country. Karmakar represented India at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, becoming the first Indian female gymnast ever to compete in the Olympics. She was also the first Indian gymnast in any discipline to compete at the Olympics since the 1964 Summer Olympics 52 years previous. Karmakar finished in fourth position in the vault in Rio, with an overall score of 15.066. In July 2018, she became the first Indian gymnast to win a gold medal at a global event, when she finished first in the vault event of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup at Mersin, Turkey. She is one of the only five women who have successfully landed the Produnova, which is regarded as one of the most difficult vaults of those currently being performed in women's gymnastics. She is a recipient of the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India. For her performance in Rio Olympics 2016, the Government of India conferred upon her the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award in August 2016. Early life and career Hailing from Agartala in Tripura, Karmakar started her school life and education in Abhoynagar Nazrul Smriti Vidyalaya; she started practicing gymnastics when she was only 6 years old and has been coached by Soma Nandi & Bishweshwar Nandi since. When she began gymnastics, Karmakar had flat feet, an undesirable physical trait in a gymnast because it affects their performance. Through extensive training, she was able to develop an arch in her foot. In 2008, she won the Junior Nationals in Jalpaiguri. Since 2007, Karmakar has won 77 medals, including 67 gold, in state, national and international championships. She was part of the Indian gymnastics contingent at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi,India,Asia. Senior career Early career (2011–2013) In February, Karmakar competed in the 2011 National Games of India, representing Tripura. She won gold medals in the all-around and all four events: floor, vault, balance beam and uneven bars. Commonwealth
Dipa Karmakar
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Satyawart Kadian (born 9 November 1993) is an Indian wrestler. He first represented India at the inaugural 2010 Youth Olympics where he won a bronze medal in the boys' freestyle 100 kg category. He then represented India in the 2014 Commonwealth Games and won a silver medal in the 97 kg weight class. Personal life He is the son of Satyawan Kadian, an Arjuna Awardee and 1988 Summer Olympics Olympian. Having trained in the akhada run by his father, he broke into the national camp in 2012 after a stellar performance at the 2012 Nationals in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh. In 2014, Chief coach Vinod Kumar, who was a teammate of his father's during the 1988 Olympics, was confident that Kadian competing in a higher weight category would ensure him medals. "It is rare for us to get a wrestler who is competing for medals regularly in the higher weight divisions. We are very lucky to have Satyawart. And the best part is he is only 20 years old. If we keep working on him we are sure he will become one of the mainstays of this team in the years to come." Satyawart dreams of emulating Olympic wrestler Sushil Kumar in the future. He is married to Sakshi Malik - another freestyle female wrestler who has represented India at multiple international competitions. Career 2010 Youth Olympic Games Kadian's first major medal at an international event was when he won the bronze medal in the boys' freestyle 100 kg category at the debut Youth Olympics in Singapore, announcing himself to the Indian wrestling community and to the world. 2013 World Junior Wrestling Championships Kadian rose to prominence in the 2013 World Youth Wrestling Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria when he became the only Indian wrestler to return home with a medal, albeit the bronze one. It was a tough road for the Indian to the semis, having beaten an Iranian and a Kazakh to line up against Viktor Kazishvili of the United States of America. The young wrestler was unable to overcome the American and came up against Ali Bonceoglu of Turkey in the bronze medal match where he succeeded in overcoming the wily Turkish wrestler. Battling an ankle injury during the semi-final and bronze medal bouts, Kadian said his motivation to win a meal was the lean returns from the wrestling contingent. "The first few days were not good for us. We didn't win a medal in freestyle and Greco-Roman. I wanted to end this barren spell and win a medal at any cost. After the first round I felt in good form. In the bronze-medal match I desperately wanted to register a victory," said the 18 year old in an interview with the Times of India. In the build-up to the tournament, Kadian trained with Olympic medallists Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt at the senior national wrestling camp in Sonepat. Raj Singh, secretary general of the Wrestling Federation of India (at that time) attributed Kadian's success in Sofia to his
Satyawart Kadian
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Udham Singh Kular (4 August 1928 – 23 March 2000) was an Indian Hockey Player from Sansarpur, Jalandhar, Punjab, India. He played in 1952 Summer Olympics Helsinki, 1956 Summer Olympics Melbourne, 1960 Summer Olympics Rome and 1964 Summer Olympics Tokyo. He shares the distinction of being one of only two Indian players to win four Olympic medals, the other being Leslie Claudius. Early life Udham was born on 4 August 1928 at Sansarpur, a small village near the Jalandhar Cantonment of Punjab. He studied at Victor High School and DAV College, Jalandhar. Although Udham had a short stature of 5 feet 6 inches and weighed only 58 kg, it never affected his game. Domestic Hockey In 1947 Udham was named the Captain of his College Hockey team and was recruited by the Punjab Police the same year, which had one of the best Hockey teams in the nation at the time. For a period of 18 years he played for Punjab Police, and led the team a couple of times during the tenure. Udham was named the Captain of the State Hockey team of Punjab in 1954. International Hockey Udham Singh would have made his Olympics debut in London in 1948, but due to a finger injury he missed the chance. He played in a Hockey Series against Afghanistan in 1949, contributing to India’s victory. Udham was a part of the Indian Hockey squad at Helsinki Olympics in 1952 where Captain K.D. Singh Babu led the Indian team to a Gold Medal win, and at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 where Balbir Singh Senior successfully led the Indian team to save the Gold Medal. Udham also played in the Rome Olympics in 1960 and at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, his last Olympic games. At Rome, Pakistan defeated India in the Finals, while the Indian team snatched its Gold Medal back from Pakistan in Tokyo defeating the opponents by 1-0. Udham delivered his best performance at the Tokyo Asian Games in 1958 but still couldn’t get India the Gold as Pakistan beat India on the basis of better goal average. Udham Singh is one of the two hockey players to win 3 golds and a silver in the Olympics, the other being Leslie Claudius. He was also awarded the Arjuna Award by the Indian Government. He was a Half back but had the adaptability to play from Left Inside, Right Inside, Center Forward and Center Half positions as well. Captaincy He was named the Captain of the Indian Hockey Federation team that went to a Warsaw tour in 1955 and to East Africa in 1959. Udham also led the Indian squad to World Cup Hockey held at Lyons, France. Coaching Udham Singh served as the Coach of the Indian Hockey team and successfully got the team a bronze Medal at the Mexico Olympics in 1968 and the silver medal at the Bangkok Asian Games in 1970. After his retirement from playing hockey, he turned to coaching young male teams. Awards
Udham Singh (field hockey)
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India competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Indian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympics since 1920, although they made their official debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. 117 Indian athletes participated in Rio 2016, 63 men and 54 women, across 15 sports at the Games. It was one of the nation's largest ever delegations sent to the Olympics, due to the historic comeback of the women's field hockey squad after 36 years and the proliferation of track and field athletes making the cut. Among the sporting events represented by its athletes, India made its Olympic debut in golf (new to the 2016 Games) and women's artistic gymnastics. The Indian roster featured three Olympic medalists from London, including badminton star Saina Nehwal, freestyle wrestler and four-time Olympian Yogeshwar Dutt, and rifle shooter Gagan Narang. Tennis ace and 1996 bronze medalist Leander Paes topped the roster lineup by competing at his record seventh Olympics, while air rifle marksman Abhinav Bindra, who became the nation's first and only individual gold medalist in history (2008), led the Indian delegation as the flag bearer in the opening ceremony at his fifth consecutive Games. Other notable Indian athletes also included tennis player Sania Mirza in the women's doubles, artistic gymnast and Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Dipa Karmakar, and multiple-time world medalist Jitu Rai in men's pistol shooting. India left Rio de Janeiro with two medals. These medals were won only by female athletes for the first time in history, a silver to badminton player P. V. Sindhu in the women's singles, who became India's youngest individual Olympic medallist and the first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver, as well as a bronze to freestyle wrestler Sakshi Malik in the women's 58 kg, who became the first female wrestler from India to win an Olympic medal. Several Indian athletes came close to increasing the medal haul, finishing in fourth place, including tennis tandem Mirza and Rohan Bopanna in the mixed doubles; Bindra, who narrowly missed out the podium by a half-point in the men's 10 m air rifle before retiring from the sport; and Karmakar, who surprised the global audience with her high-risk Produnova routine in the women's vault. For the first time, the Indian shooters failed to earn a single medal since 2004, and the boxers since 2008. Medalists Competitors The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Games. Note that reserves in fencing, field hockey, football, and handball are not counted as athletes: Archery Three Indian women's archers & One Indian men's archer qualified after having secured top eight finishes in the women's team recurve event & men's individual event at the 2015 World Archery Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark. Athletics Indian athletes have been able to achieve qualifying standard in the following athletic events (up to maximum of 3 athletes in each event) Indian shot putter Inderjeet Singh and 200 metres sprinter Dharambir
India at the 2016 Summer Olympics
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Ronjan Sodhi (born 23 October 1979 in Ferozepur, Punjab, India) is an Indian Double trap shooter. He won two silver medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and a gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games. In 2011, he became first Indian to successfully defend a World Cup title. He is also a recipient of the Arjuna Award and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award (2013). In November 2016 Perazzi announces Ronjan Sodhi as their brand ambassador. Background Ronjan Sodhi belongs to a Sikh family of Sodhi Nagar, Ferozepur, Punjab. Career 2010 Lonato ISSF World Cup Ronjan Sodhi shot a perfect 50 hits out of 50 clays in the final and set a new world record with a score of 195 to clinch the coveted Gold Medal in Double Trap event at the 2010 ISSF World Cup held at Lonato, Italy. 2010 Commonwealth Games On 6 October, Sodhi won the Platinum Medal in Men's Double Trap Singles. He along with Asher Noria also won the Silver Medal in Men's Double Trap Pairs, losing to the eventual champions Stevan Walton and Steven Scott by one point. 2010 Asian Games Sodhi scored a total of 186 and thus, managed to win the Gold Medal in Men's Double Trap Event at the Asian Games 2010. He also won the bronze medal in the Men's Double Trap Team. 2011 Beijing ISSF World Cup Sodhi scored a total of 183 hits (144 in the qualifications, and 41 hits in the final) and won the Silver Medal in 2011 ISSF World Cup held at Beijing, China, thus earning an Olympic Quota for India. 2011 Maribor ISSF World Cup Sodhi earned a Bronze Medal at 2011 ISSF World Cup held at Maribor, Slovenia. ISSF World Rankings Sodhi became the only Indian marksman to grab the top spot in the latest ISSF World Rankings. Ronjan, who was earlier ranked second behind American Joshua Richmond by three points, attained the summit by virtue of his bronze medal-winning feat at the World Cup earlier in July in Maribor, Slovenia. 2011 Al Ain ISSF World Cup Sodhi won the Gold Medal at the 2011 ISSF World Cup held at Al Ain, United Arab Emirates on 4 October 2011. Hu Binuyuan of China came second. 2012 London Olympics Sodhi qualified for the men's double trap event at the 2012 London Olympics after winning a silver medal in the event at the 2011 ISFF World Cup held at Beijing. At Olympics after a promising start, this Indian shooter failed to make it to the finals of Double Trap. Sodhi finished 11th with a total of 134 in the qualification. He started off on a good note by fetching the total of 48 in the first round of the qualification stage topping the list with three other shooters. After the end of second round, his total of 92 out of 100 placed him on the 6th position which was still good for one to make into the finals. In the third and final round, he started
Ronjan Sodhi
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Leslie Walter Claudius (25 March 1927 – 20 December 2012) was an Indian field hockey player from Bilaspur. He studied in South Eastern Railway (Now SECR) English Medium School Bilaspur, which has produced many national sportsmen. Leslie Claudius shares with Udham Singh the distinction of being one of only two Indian players to win four Olympic medals in field hockey. To his gold medals in 1948, 1952 and 1956, he added a silver in 1960 when he captained the team that reached the final against Pakistan. He was the first player ever to earn 100 caps, and competed for India, in addition to the Olympics, on their European tour of 1949, Malaysian tour of 1952, Australian and New Zealand tours of 1955, and at the 3rd Asian Games in 1958. After the 1960 Olympics, he continued to compete domestically, retiring after the 1965 season. In 1971, he became the sixth Indian hockey player to be given the Padma Shri Civil award by the Indian government. Leslie Claudius had joined Calcutta Customs Department as Preventive Officer and retired as Assistant Collector of Customs. He was a member of Calcutta Customs Club and represented the Calcutta Port Customs Commissionerate in the Aga Khan Tournament in 1948. Leslie Claudius not only brought international glory but also kept the Calcutta Customs Club flag flying high. Career Early career Claudius was initially interested in football and as an accomplished player, he got a chance to play for the Bengal and Nagpur Railway. But, his talent in field hockey was spotted by Dickie Carr, who was a part of the Indian team that won the gold medal at the 1936 Olympics. Claudius was then inducted into the Bengal and Nagpur Railway hockey team that Carr was a part of. The team finished second in the Beighton Cup and Claudius quit football for hockey. International career Claudius was a member of India's generation of hockey that won the Olympic gold in 1948, 1952 and 1956 and silver in 1960. He was the first hockey player to have competed in four Olympics and also the first to earn a hundred international caps. He captained the Indian team for the first team in 1959, with Dhyan Chand, often considered India's greatest hockey player ever as the coach, and led them to the second-place finish at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. Team Manager Claudius was appointed as the manager of the Indian team in 1978 for the Bangkok Asian Games. Personal life Claudius was of Anglo-Indian descent. His son, Robert, was also an Indian international who represented his country at the World Cup in Argentina in 1978. Leslie died after a prolonged battle with cirrhosis of liver. Leslie had three more sons, one who stayed with him in Kolkata and two who live in Melbourne. His son Robert (Bobby) Claudius played Hockey World Cup in Argentina for India in 1978; he died the same year in Kolkata (then Calcutta) in a road accident. Awards and recognition In 1971 he was
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Namita Toppo (born 4 June 1995) is an Indian former field hockey player. She hails from Sundargarh District of Odisha. On 27 December 2020, she was conferred with the 28th Eklavya award. Toppo was honoured for her performance from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2020 at both national and international levels. Career Namita Toppo, born on 4 June 1995, is a midfielder and a product of Sports Hostel, Panposh, Rourkela, Odisha. Toppo made her state debut in 2007 and was then selected for Girls U-18 Asia Cup in Bangkok, Thailand where she was part of Bronze medal winning squad. Toppo represented the senior team for the first time in 2012 in the FIH champions challenge in Dublin. Namita was felicitated with Asuntra Lakra Award for the upcoming player of the year Award for 2014 by Hockey India. She made her 150th appearance for the national team against England in 2018 women's hockey world cup in London. Namita was part of Olympic squad which represented India in the summer Olympics after 36 years. Namita Toppo, was one of the four players, who were made to sit on the floor of the train while returning to their home from Rio Olympics. Awards and achievements Namita has represented National Hockey team of India in more than 150 matches. On 27 December 2020, she was conferred with the prestigious 28th Ekalavya Award for her contribution to the game. Toppo was honoured for her performance from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2020 at both national and international levels. Namita was felicitated by Mahanadi Coalfields limited in August 2014, with a cash award of Rs 1 lakh for helping India win bronze medal in the 2013 Junior women Hockey World Cup in Germany. Odisha government announced a cash award of Rs 75,000 for Namita for helping India win women`s bronze medal in the 17th Asian Games at Incheon. She was felicitated with the Asunta Lakra Award for Upcoming Player of the Year 2014 (Women Under-21) and a purse of Rs 10 lakh by Hockey India in its annual award function at New Delhi on 28 March 2015. Received a special incentive of Rs 10 Lakh by Odisha Mining Corporation in 2016, for her participation in Rio Olympic Games. International Helped India win the bronze medal in the Girls U-18 Asia Cup Hockey Championship at Bangkok, Thailand (25 September 2011). Represented Indian senior women`s hockey team in the FIH World League (Round 2) at New Delhi from 18 to 24 February 2013. She was a part of the Indian team that won the bronze medal for the first time in Women`s Junior Hockey World Cup at Monchengladbach in Germany on 4 July 2013. Represented the country in the 3rd Women's Asian Champions Trophy in Japan in 2013. Represented the country in the 8th Women's Asia Cup in Malaysia in 2013. Represented the country in the FIH Champions Challenge 1 in Glasgow in 2014. She was a part of the Indian team that won the women's
Namita Toppo
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Saurabh Chaudhary (born 12 May 2002) is an Indian sport shooter. He won the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in 10 m Air Pistol. He was the youngest Indian gold medalist at the Asian Games. He had earlier won gold medals and set a new junior world record in the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany. He is the only Indian shooter to win a gold medal in ISSF World Championship, ISSF World Cup, Youth Olympic Games, Asian Games and Asian Air Gun Championship. He broke his own world record with a score of 245.5 and claimed gold in Junior Men 10m Air Pistol at 2018 World Championship in Changwon, Korea. Early life He was born in Kalina village, in district Meerut of western Uttar Pradesh (India). He comes from a family of farmers living in Yamuna and Gangatic plains of western UP. His father is Jagmohan Singh Siwach. He took up shooting at 13 and practised daily, traveling 15 km each way on buses to his club run by Aryangateways Sports Foundation. His coach Amit Sheoran identified his talent and groomed him from grassroot level. Olympic journey From Tin-Shed Academy to Tokyo Olympics. Just months before event Saurabh Chaudhary was effected by COVID-19. But, sensational shooter Chaudhary fired his way into the finals of the men's 10m air pistol event by topping the qualifications at 1st position with 586/600 with a mind-blowing performance in the Tokyo Olympics here on Saturday. Coach Amit Sheoran hard work at Aryangateways Sports Foundation for Saurabh proved itself in Olympics. Unfortunately in finals medal slipped off even after the entry at first position. At the age of 16 years, he won Gold n 10m air pistol at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. And shot 244.2 to finish on top ahead of South Korea's Sung Yunho (236.7) and Switzerland's Solari Jason (215.6), who bagged silver and bronze respectively. 2018 Chaudhary became the youngest Indian shooter to win a gold medal at the Asian Games. He participated in the Youth Olympic Games 2018 in Argentina and won gold. He won three golds in the Asian Airgun Championship in 2018:the 10m air pistol competition, the team competition and in the mixed team 10m pistol. 2019 In February he won the gold medal at ISSF World Cup in Delhi. In April, he participated in Mixed Team 10m pistol with Manu Bhaker and won gold at ISSF World Cup in Beijing. In May he won gold and broke the world and junior records in 10m pistol ISSF World Cup in Munich. 2020 In January 2020, he won 63rd gold at the 63rd National Shooting Championship.in men's 10 metre air pistol. 2021 In the men's 10 metre air pistol event of the Tokyo Olympics he managed to reach the final finishing in 7th place. International career Youth Olympic Games World Championship Asian Games World Cup 10 Meter Air Pistol Mixed Team Honours The Times of India TOISA Shooter of the Year: 2021 See also National
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Mustafa Ghouse (born 19 August 1980) is the Chief Executive Officer of JSW Sports, the sports vertical of The JSW Group. The JSW Group owns and operates Indian Super League club Bengaluru FC and Pro-Kabaddi League team Haryana Steelers. Ghouse is also the Director at JSW Sports' Indian Premier League franchise Delhi Capitals. Prior to his involvement in Management of Sport, Ghouse was a professional tennis player who represented India at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea and the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, winning a bronze medal in the Men's Doubles event at the 2002 edition with partner, Vishal Uppal. JSW Sports Ghouse was appointed as CEO of JSW Sports in 2012. Since its inception in 2012 as a programme to support Indian Olympic athletes, the Sports division of the JSW Group has added teams in the Indian Premier League, Pro-Kabaddi League and Indian Super League to its portfolio. The JSW Group has also led the establishment of the Inspire Institute of Sport, India's first privately funded high-performance training centre for future Olympians, in Bellary, Karnataka. In December 2018, JSW Sports announced that it will also manage commercial and marketing interests of its athletes. JSW Sports was awarded the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar Award by the Government of India for its contribution towards sport in India, in the years 2014 and 2018. JSW Sports also won the FICCI India Sports awards in the category of Best Company Promoting Sports (Private Sector) in 2018. JSW Sports Excellence Program As CEO of JSW Sports, Ghouse has led the JSW Sports Excellence Programme (SEP) since it commenced in 2012 to support Olympic Disciplines - Boxing, Judo, Wrestling, Swimming and Athletics. Some of the current names in the JSW Sports Sports Excellence Programme stable include Asian, Commonwealth Games and Tokyo Olympic 2020 gold medal-winning javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, 2016 Rio Olympic Bronze medal-winning female wrestler Sakshi Malik, Asian and Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning wrestler Bajrang Punia and 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games gold medal-winning high-jumper Tejaswin Shankar. Bengaluru FC As CEO of JSW Sports, Ghouse has been a part of the building of Bengaluru FC from its ideation stage, leading the submission of the tender when invited by the AIFF in 2013. In his role as Chief Operating Officer of Bengaluru FC in its initial year as an I-League Club, he introduced a professional approach to football clubs in India, following the best practices from European teams, imposing a strict sports science regime and made the club a first in India to obtain an AFC license in its initial year. He has been recognised as playing a key role in the club's success in its initial years, with Bengaluru FC going on to win the I-League title in its debut season before becoming the first Indian club to reach the final of the AFC Cup, in 2016. Inspire Institute of Sport Ghouse has been involved in the conceptualisation and execution of the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS), a training facility for
Mustafa Ghouse
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Pusarla Venkata Sindhu (born 5 July 1995) is an Indian badminton player. Considered one of India's most successful sportspersons, Sindhu has won medals at various tournaments such as the Olympics and on the BWF circuit, including a gold at the 2019 World Championships. She is the first and only Indian to become the badminton world champion and only the second individual athlete from India to win two consecutive medals at the Olympic Games. She rose to a career-high world ranking of no. 2 in April 2017. Sindhu broke into the top 20 of the BWF World Rankings in September 2012, at the age of 17. She has won a total of five medals at the BWF World Championships and is only the second woman after China's Zhang Ning ever to win five or more singles medals in the competition. She represented India at the 2016 Summer Olympics (Rio), where she became the first Indian badminton player to reach the Olympic final. She won the silver medal after losing out to Spain's Carolina Marín. She made her second consecutive Olympic appearance at the 2020 Summer Olympics (Tokyo) and won a bronze medal, becoming the first-ever Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. Sindhu won her first superseries title at the 2016 China Open and followed it up with four more finals in 2017, winning the titles in South Korea and India. She also won the 2018 BWF World Tour Finals and remains the only Indian player to win a season finale title. In addition to that, she is the reigning Commonwealth Games champion and has won three consecutive singles medals at the Commonwealth Games, a silver medal at the Asian Games, and two bronze medals at the Uber Cup. With earnings of US$8.5 million, $5.5 million, $7.2 million, $7.1 million and $7.1 million respectively, Sindhu made the Forbes list of Highest-Paid Female Athletes in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. She is a recipient of the sports honours Arjuna Award and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, as well as India's fourth-highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, and third-highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan. Early life and training Pusarla Venkata Sindhu was born and brought up in Hyderabad, India to P. V. Ramana and P. Vijaya. Ramana's ancestors belong to Eluru district of Andhra Pradesh and later moved to Guntur. Ramana was an employee of the Indian Railways and was born in Nirmal. Vijaya hails from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. Sindhu and her family regularly offer prayers to their family deity in Ratnalammakunta village of Eluru district. Both her parents have been national level volleyball players. Her father, Ramana and was a member of the Indian volleyball team that won the bronze medal in the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, received the Arjuna Award in 2000 for his contribution to the sport. Sindhu lives in Hyderabad. She was educated at Auxilium High School and at St. Ann's College for Women, Hyderabad. Though her parents played professional volleyball, she chose badminton over it because she drew
P. V. Sindhu
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Gymnastics came of age in India, when at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Ashish Kumar won the first-ever medal in gymnastics, he won a bronze medal. However, soon after the win, the President of the Gymnastics Federation of India asked Ashish's Chief Coach from the Soviet Union, Vladimir Chertkov: "Is this all that you can deliver, a bronze?" The comment was widely reported in the press. Later, the coach revealed that "In August 2009, we had no equipment. Ashish trained on hard floor till February 2010, and then we got equipment around 20 years old." Also, the Federation announced that no Indian team would travel to Rotterdam for the World Championships in October, which meant that Indian gymnasts automatically would not qualify as a team for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Ashish also won a silver medal in the Men's vault at 2010 Commonwealth Games. It was Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, from where India's path in gymnastics started taking shape slowly, when Dipa Karmakar from Tripura, a small state of India, went on to win a bronze medal in the Women's vault finale and performed the Produnova vault with a score of 15.1 (D-7, Ex- 8.1). With this attempt she became the fifth gymnast to ever execute the Produnova, just after legendary gymnast Oksana Chusovitina, who executed it multiples times. In October 2015, Karmakar became the first Indian gymnast to qualify for a final stage at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. Later in 2016 when she qualified for Rio Olympics, she became the first Indian gymnast to do so and also hours after her qualification at 2016 Gymnastics Olympic Test Event she clinched a gold medal in the Women's vault event stunning Oksana Chusovitina with her Prudunova again who came second to her. On 6 July 2016, FIG honored Dipa by naming her World Class Gymnast. At Rio Olympics, she achieved 4th place in vaults. After a long break due to injury when she ran for vaults and landed with a gold at World Challenge Cup series. Her medal is one of the first medals won by any Indian at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup, second only to Aruna Reddy's bronze for individual vaults at FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Melbourne. Total medals won by Indian Gymnasts in Major tournaments Notable Performance at Summer Olympics Notable gymnasts Sham Lal Madhusudhan Saha Mantu Debnath Sunita Sharma Krupali Patel Kalpana Debnath Ashish Kumar Dipa Karmakar Pranati Nayak siddharth nigam Notable coaches Dalip Singh Bishweshwar Nandi References External links Gymnastics Federation of India
Gymnastics in India
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Yogeshwar Dutt (born 2 November 1982) is an Indian freestyle wrestler. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he won the bronze medal in the 60 kg category. He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2013. He won gold medals at the 2010 and the 2014 Commonwealth Games. He is one of only 5 male wrestlers in India to win an Olympic medal. Personal life Dutt was born in Bhainswal Kalan village in Sonipat district of Haryana. He first started wrestling at the age of eight in his native village and idolised Balraj Pehlwan. He was trained by coach Ramphal. Dutt is a vegetarian. Career 2006 Asian Games Yogeshwar had lost his father on 3 August 2006 just nine days before he boarded the flight to Doha for the Asian Games. He also sustained a knee injury, but despite all the emotional and physical trauma he managed to win the bronze in the 60 kg category at the 15th Asian Games at Doha. 2010 Commonwealth Games At the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, Yogeshwar overcame a career-threatening knee injury to win the 60 kg title. Yogeshwar, who went past Australian Farzad Tarash (16–0, 17–0), South African Marius Loots (7–1) and England's Sasha Madyarchyk (4–4, 8–0) on his way to the final, came up with an exceptionally skilful performance to win the gold for India. 2012 Summer Olympics On 12 August 2012, Yogeshwar Dutt provided a late boost to India's medals tally in the 2012 London Olympics by claiming a memorable bronze in the Men's freestyle 60 kg, thus becoming the third Indian wrestler to win an Olympic medal after K D Jadhav in 1952 and Sushil Kumar in 2008 and 2012. He had defeated North Korean Ri Jong-Myong in the bronze medal bout thus winning the fifth medal for Indian contingent at the London Olympics 2012. Earlier, Yogeshwar qualified for the 2012 Olympics by winning a silver medal at an Asian qualification tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan where he lost to Iranian Masoud Esmaeilpour (2–3, 0–1) in the final. At the Olympics he lost to the Russian B Kudukhov 1–0, 2–0 and was knocked out from the pre-quarterfinal round. He got a chance to contest in the repechage rounds as Kudukhov reached the finals of the event. In his first repechage round he went on to beat Franklin Gómez of Puerto Rico with a score of 1–0, 1–0. He got lucky against his opponent, winning the toss on both the occasions to earn a clinch position. Yogeshwar then scored 7–5 to beat Masoud Esmaeilpour with an aggregate of counted points 3–1 in Repechage Round 2. Esmaeilpour had beaten Yogeshwar at the Asian qualifications earlier that year. He finally beat his North Korean opponent to clinch the bronze medal (0–1, 1–0, 6–0). He was exceptional in the last round, and clinched it in just 1:02 minutes. 2014 Commonwealth Games Yogeshwar Dutt won the gold medal in the men's 65 kg freestyle category by beating Canada's Jevon Balfour 10–0 in the
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Ramesh Kumar is an Indian wrestler, who the bronze medal in the Men's 74kg Freestyle Wrestling event at the 2009 Wrestling World Championship in Herning, Denmark. Biography He was born in Purkhas in Sonipat district of Haryana. While still in school, his maternal grandfather who was also a wrestler sent him to Capt. Chand Roop& Chotu Ram ’s Akhada, a school of Indian-style wrestling, pehlwani, at Azadpur, Delhi, in 1994. In 1997, while still studying in ninth standard at the Jahangirpuri Government School, he won a gold medal, at the 11th World Cadet Wrestling Championships, after beating Russia's B Yusuf on points (6-3), in the 63-kg category. At the 2002 Commonwealth Games, he won gold medal in 66 kg category. In 2005, at the 51st National Championship, he beat Sombir of Haryana, in the 74 kg freestyle to win the finals. He represented India at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Men's Freestyle 66 kg category, though he missed 2008 Olympics due to back injury. After 2004, he switched to 74 kg category. At the 2009 FILA Wrestling World Championships, he defeated Alexandr Burca of Moldova to win a bronze medal, which was India's first medal win at the championship, after Vishambhar Singh won a silver in 1967, 42 years ago. He lives and trains in Sonepat, Haryana. References External links Bronze medallist Ramesh Kumar says gold next time Olympic wrestlers for India Wrestlers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Indian male sport wrestlers 1981 births Living people People from Sonipat district Sport wrestlers from Haryana World Wrestling Championships medalists Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India Commonwealth Games medallists in wrestling Recipients of the Arjuna Award Asian Wrestling Championships medalists 20th-century Indian people 21st-century Indian people Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
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Abhinav Apjit Bindra (born 28 September 1982) is an Indian Olympic gold medallist, retired sport shooter, and businessman. He is the first and one of only two Indians to win an Individual Olympic Gold Medal. He is the first Indian to have held concurrently the world and Olympic titles for the men's 10-meter air rifle event, having earned those honors at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2006 ISSF World Shooting Championships. Bindra has also won seven medals at the Commonwealth Games and three medals at the Asian Games. With more than 150 medals in his 22-year career, he is the recipient of the Padma Bhushan from the Government of India and is one of the top influencers of sport policy in the country. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Bindra finished fourth in the finals of the 10-meter air rifle event. He also served as a goodwill ambassador for the Rio 2016 Olympics Indian contingent, having been appointed to that post by the Indian Olympics Association (IOA). On 5 September 2016, he announced his retirement. Bindra's primary outreach to Indian sports is through the Abhinav Bindra Foundation, a non-profit organization that works to integrate sports, science, and technology into Indian sports and encourage high-performance physical training. In 2018, Abhinav was bestowed with the prestigious Blue Cross, the ISSF's highest honor. Bindra is also currently a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission. Abhinav Bindra, the Indian Olympic champion, is set to carry the Olympic torch at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. This prestigious honor comes as part of the Olympic torch relay happening from April 16 to July 26. Career Early years Bindra was born in Dehradun in Uttarakhand, to a Punjabi Sikh Khatri family. He was educated at the Doon School in Dehradun and at St. Stephen's School in Chandigarh. He studied business administration at the University of Colorado Boulder. Determined to train with the best possible facilities, which were then not available in India, he would train for prolonged periods in Germany, where he was coached by Gaby Buhlmann. Notable international performances At the age of 15, Bindra was the youngest participant in the 1998 Commonwealth Games. He was also the youngest Indian participant at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. At the 2000 Olympics, he achieved a score of 590, placing him 11th in the qualification round. With that score, he was not able to qualify for the finals. He was also honored with the Arjuna Award that year. In international competitions, he won his first medal, a bronze, at the 2001 Munich World Cup with a new junior world record score of 597/600. He won six gold medals at various international meets that year and received the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, India's highest sports award. In the air rifle event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, he finished with gold in the pairs event and silver in the individual event. In the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, he
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The field hockey tournament at the 1948 Summer Olympics was the sixth edition of the field hockey event at the Summer Olympics. In five Olympic hockey tournaments, there had only been two different winners, but Britain and India had never competed together at the Olympics. There was no question the UK would again be absent at their home Olympics, although there were some organizational difficulties. First of all, the four British nations were independently affiliated with the international federation FIH and were not very keen on cooperating. Also, there were no hockey grounds to train on, as these were used by cricketers during the summer. Still, they managed to put together a team, the first real British hockey team at the Olympics (the 1908 and 1920 champions had been composed entirely of English players). Their captain was the versatile Norman Borrett, a first-class cricketer and national squash champion who once qualified for Wimbledon but didn't have time to compete. The fixtures were announced on 19 June 1948. Revised fixtures were announced on 28 July. Britain and India were seeded, along with Pakistan and the Netherlands. Pakistan had only separated from India the previous year and made their first Olympic appearance in London. One of the team members, Ali Iqtidar Shah Dara, had been on the golden Indian team of 1936. All four ranked teams made the semis, although the Brits were held to a goalless draw by Switzerland, and Pakistan crushed the Dutch 6–1 in their group match. The semi-finals were close, and British observers considered the Indians to be lucky to get away with a 2–1 win against the Dutch. With Britain beating Pakistan, the gold medal match would finally see India play the Britons. Completely focused on its defense, Britain was unable to keep up with the fast-paced Indians, and they lost it 4–0. The bronze went to the Netherlands, beating Pakistan 4–2 in a replay of the first 3rd place match, which had ended in a draw. Participating nations (H) (*) NOTE: There are only players counted, which participated in one game at least. (H) Host Squads A total of 187(*) field hockey players from 13 nations competed at the London Games Results Group stage The first of each group and also the second of Group C qualified for the Semi-finals. Group A Group B Group C Finals Semi-finals Bronze medal match Gold medal match Final standings Medal summary Note: The International Olympic Committee medal database shows also only these players as medalists. They all played at least one match during the tournament. The reserve players are not listed as medalists. See also Gold (2018 film), about the Indian national hockey team at the 1948 Summer Olympics References Field hockey at the Summer Olympics 1948 Summer Olympics events 1948 1948 in field hockey
Field hockey at the 1948 Summer Olympics
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Karnam Malleswari (born 1 June 1975) is a retired Indian weightlifter. She is the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Olympics in 2000. In 1994, she received the Arjuna Award and in 1999, she received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India's highest sporting honour, and the civilian Padma Shri award. Career Malleswari won the world title in the 54 kg division in 1994 and 1995 and placed third in 1993 and 1996. In 1994, she won silver at the World Championships in Istanbul and in 1995 she won the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Korea in the 54 kg category. That year, she won the title in China with a record lift of 113 kg at the World Championships. Even before her Olympic win, Malleswari was a two-time weightlifting world champion with 29 international medals, which includes 11 gold medals. Along with the national and international medals, Malleswari was also awarded with Arjuna Award in 1994, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 1999, and Padma Shri in 1999. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Malleswari lifted 110 kg in the "snatch" and 130 kg in the "clean and jerk" categories for a total of 240 kg. She won the bronze medal and became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal. She is also the first Indian weightlifter, male or female, to win an Olympic medal. Her medal was the only medal that India secured in the 2000 Olympics. Personal life Malleswari was born in a Karnam family in Voosavanipeta near Amadalavalasa, a hamlet in Andhra Pradesh. She has four sisters and all are married and well settled in life. Malleshwari started her career when she was 12 and was trained under coach Neelamshetty Appanna. Her sister was married and living in Delhi, and Malleshwari moved to that city for better training when it became clear that she had the potential to become a great athlete. Her talent was soon spotted by the Sports Authority of India. In 1990, Malleshwari joined the national camp and four years later, she became the weight-lifting world championship winner in the 54-kg class. In 1997, Malleshwari married fellow weightlifter Rajesh Tyagi. In 2001, one year after winning the Olympic bronze medal in her sport, she became a mother with the birth of a son. She planned to return to competitions at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, but withdrew due to her father's death. She retired after failing to score at the 2004 Olympics. Karnam Malleshwari and Tyagi currently lives in Yamunanagar, Haryana, with their son and in-laws in a joint family. She works at the Food Corporation of India as Chief General Manager (General Administration). In June 2021, she was appointed as the vice-chancellor of Sports University, established by the government of Delhi. Awards She is honoured with Arjuna award in 1994 . References External links 1975 births Living people Indian female weightlifters People from Srikakulam district Olympic weightlifters for India Olympic bronze medalists for India Recipients of the Padma Shri in
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Terence ("Terry") Arthur Walsh (born 20 November 1953) is a field hockey coach and a former player who played as a striker for Australia. He represented Australia in two Olympic Games, winning a silver medal at the 1976 Games in Montreal. Following his playing career, he became a coach and had successful spells with Australia and Netherlands. He also coached the Indian men's team and guided the team to its first gold medal at the Asian Games after 16 years. Coaching career Walsh was the head coach of the Australia men's national team during the 1990s. Under him, the team won gold medals at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and 1999 Champions Trophy and bronze at the 2000 Olympic Games. He then coached the Netherlands men's team to a silver medal finish at the 2004 Olympics. He was appointed as the coach of the India men's team in 2013, before he submitted his resignation in October 2014, citing "difficulty adjusting to the decision making style of the sporting bureaucracy in India" as the reason. However, he withdrew his resignation the next day. Under him, at the 2014 Asian Games, the team won the gold medal, its first in 16 years. Citing "bureaucratic interference", he quit again in November 2014. In 2014 he became the head coach of Kalinga Lancers in the Hockey India League. References External links Profile on USA Field Hockey 1953 births Australian male field hockey players Olympic field hockey players for Australia Field hockey players at the 1976 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Living people Australian field hockey coaches Olympic silver medalists for Australia Sportspeople from Kalgoorlie Olympic medalists in field hockey Field hockey people from Western Australia Australian people of Anglo-Indian descent Australian sportspeople of Indian descent Anglo-Indian people Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic coaches for Australia Australian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Australian expatriate field hockey players Coaches at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportsmen from Western Australia
Terry Walsh (field hockey)
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Aanchal Thakur (born 28 August 1996) is an Indian female alpine skier. She represented India at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. In Innsbruck, Thakur took part in the Alpine skiing - girl's slalom and girl's giant slalom events. Thakur became the first Indian skier to win a medal in an International Ski Federation event in 2018. Personal life She is the sister of Indian international skier Himanshu Thakur who represented India at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Career Thakur was named to India's 2017 Asian Winter Games team in February 2017. In 2018, Thakur created history by becoming the first Indian skier ever to claim a medal in the international skiing event. She won the bronze medal in the 2018 Alpine Ejder 3200 Cup which was held in Turkey and was organised by the Federation Internationale de Ski. Thakur won her second medal in the international skiing event at FIS Alpine Ski Competition held at Kolašin, Montenegro. She won the bronze medal at the 2021 event held in Montenegro under the banner of the Jamaican national championships. Thakur won four silver medals at the UAE Alpine Slalom Championships held at Dubai in 2022 and thus qualified for the 2023 World Ski Championships. She also became the first Indian skier to win a silver medal in international skiing. Alpine skiing results All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS). World Championship results References External links 1996 births Living people Indian female alpine skiers People from Manali, Himachal Pradesh Skiers from Himachal Pradesh Sportswomen from Himachal Pradesh 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Alpine skiers at the 2017 Asian Winter Games Alpine skiers at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics
Aanchal Thakur
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Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) is a program of the Foundation for Promotion of Sports and Games, a Not for Profit (Section 25) Company, which is committed to bridging the gap between the best athletes in India and the best athletes in the world thus helping Indian athletes to win Olympic Gold medals. OGQ aims to create a level playing field for Indian athletes to enable them to be competitive at the highest level of sport. Founded by Indian sporting legends Geet Sethi and Prakash Padukone, OGQ's first test was the London 2012 Olympics. 4 out of the 6 Indian medalists were supported by OGQ. In 2010, Leander Paes and Viswanathan Anand also joined the board of directors. Viren Rasquinha, former India hockey captain, is the current CEO of Olympic Gold Quest. Objective To assist potential Olympic medal talent from India to help achieve their dreams and win Olympic gold medals and scout for potential medal talent, to help identify areas of support, to work with all stakeholders to aid deserving talent. Olympic Gold Quest strives to complement the efforts of the Indian Government and various Sports Federations in identifying and funding the best and most deserving medal prospects for the Olympic Games. Olympic Gold Quest has brought together eminent sportsperson, business leaders, sportswriters and talent scouts to identify emerging athletes, understand their training needs and requirements and raise funds to be used for supporting athletes with Olympic medal winning potential. Supported athletes Olympic Gold Quest supports 51 athletes in the six disciplines of athletics, badminton, boxing, shooting, wrestling, and archery. Besides it also supports 25 junior athletes from different sports disciplines under its Junior Scholarship Program. Following are the athletes: Archery Deepika Kumari Jayanta Talukdar Tarundeep Rai Rahul Banerjee Bombayla Devi Laishram Rimil Buriuly Laxmirani Majhi Mangal Singh Champia Sanjay Boro Atanu Das Pravin Jadhav Atul Verma Promila Daimary Madhu Vedwan Ankita Bhakat Sukhmani Babrekar Athletics Vikas Gowda K. T. Irfan Sandeep Kumar Annu Rani Badminton Saina Nehwal (bronze in 2012) P V Sindhu (silver in 2016 and bronze in 2020) Parupalli Kashyap Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa Boxing Mary Kom (bronze in 2012) Shiva Thapa Nengneihat Kom Sarita Devi Devendro Singh Sarjubala Devi Sumit Sangwan Shooting Gagan Narang (bronze in 2012) Vijay Kumar (silver in 2012) Heena Sidhu Annu Raj Singh Sanjeev Rajput Omkar Singh Jitu Rai Pooja Ghatkar Ayonika Paul Shweta Singh Smit Singh Prakash Nanjappa Kynan Chenai Joydeep Karmakar Rahi Sarnobat Apurvi Chandela Chain Singh Elizabeth Koshy Lajja Gauswami Shri Nivetha Parmantham Gurpreet Singh Shreya Gawande Angad Vir Singh Bajwa Anish Bhanwala Ravi Kumar Deepak Kumar Shahzar Rizvi Wrestling Jaideep Parveen Rana Sonam Malik Sushil Kumar (Silver in 2012, Bronze in 2008) (Disc. 2016) Yogeshwar Dutt (Bronze in 2012) (Disc. 2016) Junior Scholarship Athletes Malaika Goel - Shooting Pratik Borse - Shooting Manavaditya Rathore - Shooting Gayatri Pawaskar - Shooting Lakshya Sen - Badminton Siril Verma - Badminton Meiraba Luwang - Badminton Rahul Yadav - Badminton Kiran George - Badminton Chirag Sen - Badminton Rahul Bharadwaj -
Olympic Gold Quest
18891926
Jagdish Singh is an Indian boxer and a boxing coach from Bhiwani district of the Indian state of Haryana. He founded the Bhiwani Boxing Club (BBC) in 2003, which produced four members of the five member boxing team in Beijing Olympics 2008, including the bronze medal winner, Vijender Singh. His five students received Arjun Award. Such as Akhil Kumar 2005, Vijender Singh 2006, Dinesh Kumar 2010, Vikas Krishan Yadav 2012, Kavita Chahal 2013. The credit for turning Bhiwani into an elite boxing center largely goes to an intrepid Sports Authority of India coach Jagdish Singh, who has been at the center since 1996. He was awarded India's highest honour for sports coaching, the 2007 Dronacharya Award. His 12 students won medals in world championships including 5 gold, 1 silver, and 6 bronze medals in various age groups. Career A former national boxer, Jagdish has produced boxers like a factory, in a country of cricket crazy people. He is known for his unconventional training methods. Due to his no-compromise attitude, politics in committee kept him away from Beijing and from his quartet (Akhil, Jeetendar, Dinesh and Vijender). More than 1000 have graduated from his academy and have won nearly 259 medals at international arena and 410 national medals ranging in different competitions from world championship to Olympics. Currently there are 135 odd being trained. Boxers are encouraged to fight without chin guards, thus making them tough and skillful. Mittal Champions trust is also funding the boxers at his center for sometime now. In 2003, Singh established the 'Bhiwani Boxing Club' withdrawing his provident fund, mortgaging his home and land to obtain loan of 4 lakhs from Gramin bank. BBC has a 25-metre track, a multi-utility gym, three punching bags and a mobile boxing ring. In the 2004 Athens Olympics, three out of the four qualifiers were from Bhiwani. Due to its record of producing competent boxers, Bhiwani is now being called the 'Cuba of India', with more than 10 per cent of the children in the district trying their hand at boxing. Singh received the 2007 Dronacharya Award (highest award conferred on coaches in India) from the Government of India on 29 August 2008. He had threatened not to accept this if none of his quartet went on to win a medal at the Beijing Olympics. Olympics 2008 Out of the five Indian boxers in 2008 Beijing Olympics, four have come out of his BBC academy. His wards include the three Indian boxers who have qualified for the quarterfinals at Beijing, viz., Akhil Kumar, Jitender Kumar and lastly Vijender Singh, who eventually won a bronze medal at Beijing Olympics, India's first Boxing medal in the Olympic Games. References Boxers from Haryana Living people Indian boxing trainers Indian male boxers People from Bhiwani Recipients of the Dronacharya Award Year of birth missing (living people)
Jagdish Singh (boxer)
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Honorary Captain Vijay Kumar Sharma, AVSM, SM (born 19 August 1985) is an Indian sport shooter. He won the silver medal in the individual 25 metre rapid fire pistol event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Kumar hails from Barsar village of Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh and is a retired Subedar Major (Warrant Officer Class I) in the Dogra Regiment (16th Battalion) Indian Army, who was later promoted to Honorary Captain Rank. Vijay Kumar is supported by the Olympic Gold Quest initiative. He is the only Indian to have won a medal at 25m rapid Fire Pistol . He has been posted at Indian Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) Mhow since 2003 where he is being coached by the Russian Pavel Smirnov. Early life and background Born in Himachal Pradesh, Kumar is the son of Banku Ram, a retired Indian Army subedar, and his wife Roshni Devi. According to his father, while Kumar was "always intrigued" by his father's guns, he only developed his interest in shooting after enlisting in the Indian Army. Kumar joined the Indian Army in 2001 as a sepoy (private), and was inducted into the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) at Mhow in 2003. His prowess ensured him a direct promotion from sepoy to havildar (sergeant) by 2006. He was promoted to naib subedar on 20 April 2006. Shooting career Early career (2006-2009) At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, he won two gold medals: the individual 25 meter rapid fire pistol competition and the pairs competition in the same event together with Pemba Tamang. The same year, he won a bronze medal in the Asian Games. In 2006, he was awarded the Arjuna award by the Indian government. In 2007, he finished second at the Asian Championship in 25 metre center-fire pistol. He also won a silver medal at the 2009 ISSF World Cup Beijing in rapid fire pistol, where he was defeated by 0.1 points. He was promoted to subedar on 10 February 2009 (seniority from 1 July 2008) Commonwealth and Olympic glory (2010-14) In the 2010 Commonwealth Games, he won three gold medals and one silver. In 25 metre rapid fire pistol pairs, Gurpreet Singh and Vijay Kumar won the gold medal scoring 1162 points, setting a new Commonwealth games record. He won the 25 meter rapid fire pistol singles event and also teamed up with Harpreet Singh to win the 25-metre center fire pistol pairs event. In the 25-metre centre fire pistol singles, he finished second winning a silver, losing out to fellow Indian Harpreet Singh. Kumar won the Silver Medal in the 25 m rapid fire pistol event at 2012 London Olympics. He finished with an average score of 9.767 and had a score of 293 with 7 inner 10s in the first stage. Vijay's silver was the second medal for India at London 2012. Earlier Kumar failed to qualify for the men's 10 m air pistol finals after finishing 31st on 28 July 2012. Kumar was chosen to be the Indian flagbearer at the
Vijay Kumar (sport shooter)
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Anju Bobby George (born 19 April 1977) is a retired Indian athlete. Anju Bobby George made history when she won the bronze medal in long jump at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics in Paris. With this achievement, she became the first Indian athlete ever to win a medal in a World Championships in Athletics jumping . She went on to win the gold medal at the IAAF World Athletics Final (a competition between best eight athletes in the world based on the world ranking) in 2005, a performance she considers her best. Anju was upgraded to the gold status from silver in the 2005 World Athletics Final in Monte Carlo following the disqualification of Tatyana Kotova of Russia by the International Association of Athletics Federations, following the recent re-testing of the latter's sample collected at the 2005 World Championship in Helsinki. She was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2002, Khel Ratna in 2003 and Padma Shri in 2004. She had got 5th position with personal best of at the 2004 Athens Olympics. In March 2021, Anju won the BBC lifetime achievement award for best athlete in India. She is also the current vice-president of the Athletics Federation of India. Early life Anju was born in Kochuparambil family in Cheeranchira village of Changanassery taluk, Kottayam, Kerala, in a Syria Orthodox Christian family, to K. T. Markose. Professional career Anju made history when she won the bronze medal clearing 6.70 m in Long Jump at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics in Paris, becoming the first Indian athlete ever to win a medal in a World Championships in Athletics. She also won a gold medal at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games. She achieved her personal best of 6.83 m at the 2004 Olympic Games at Athens which brought her the fifth position. This is the current Indian national record. She received the Arjuna award in 2002–2003 for eminent sportspersons from the government of India and the country's highest sporting honour, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 2003–2004 after her success in the World Athletic meet. She was conferred Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award in 2004. Anju Bobby George pulled out of the 52nd national inter-state athletics in Hyderabad, due to an upper respiratory tract infection. Personal life Anju is married to Robert Bobby George, who is a former national champion in triple jump and her coach too. She is employed with the Customs department in Bangalore. The couple have a son Aaron and a daughter Andrea. Involvement with sports association Anju was appointed as president of the Kerala State Sports Council (KSSC). She resigned from the post on 22 June 2016. See also India at the 2008 Summer Olympics List of Indian records in athletics List of Indian sportswomen List of Kerala Olympians References External links 1977 births Living people Indian female long jumpers Malayali people Athletes from Kerala Sportswomen from Kerala People from Changanassery Asian Games gold medalists for India Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Asian
Anju Bobby George
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Krishna Poonia (born 5 May 1977) is an international gold-medalist Indian discus thrower, track-and-field athlete, 2 times Olympics participant, Padma Shri and Arjuna Award recipient, politician from the Congress party and the formar MLA from Sadulpur constituency in Rajasthan. She participated in 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. In 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, she won a gold medal. She was appointed the President Of the Rajasthan State Sports Council in February 2022. Early life Poonia was born on 5 May 1977 in Jat family of Agroha village of Haryana's Hisar district. She was raised by her father and paternal grandmother after her mother died when she was 9 years old. Krishna's physical fitness was honed as a result of working at her family land since the age of 15 and not exactly undergoing rigorous sports training. In 2000, she married Virender Singh Poonia, a former athlete who coached her after their marriage. They had a son in 2001. The couple worked for Indian Railways but in 2013, Poonia resigned and joined the Congress. They live in Jaipur. Poonia obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Kanoria PG Mahila Mahavidyalaya in Jaipur. Career 2010 Commonwealth Games Poonia became the first Indian woman athlete to win a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. Poonia led the historic clean sweep of the discus event by clearing 61.5 meters. She is the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in track and field events of Commonwealth Games and the first Indian to win a gold medal in such events after Milkha Singh who had won the gold in Men's 440 yards race in the 1958 Cardiff Commonwealth Games. 2012 London Olympics She finished a creditable sixth in the women's discus throw in the 2012 London Olympics. Poonia's best effort of 63.62 m came in her fifth and penultimate attempt. She had 62.42 m in the first attempt and 61.61 in the third and 61.31 in the sixth and the final throw. She had two no-throws in the second and the fourth attempt. Earlier she became only the sixth Indian to make it to the final round of an Olympic track and field event after Milkha Singh, P T Usha, Sriram Singh, Gurbachan Singh Randhawa and Anju Bobby George. Political career In 2013, she joined the Indian National Congress at an election rally in Churu – her husband's home district – in the presence of Rahul Gandhi and then chief minister Ashok Gehlot after she was approached by the Congress's leadership. In 2013 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election, she contested and lost her first election from the Sadulpur Assembly constituency as Congress candidate where she finished third behind BJP and BSP. In 2018 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly election, she contested again and won the same seat on a Congress ticket, by a margin of 18084 votes after receiving 70020 votes. In 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Poonia was nominated by Congress from the Jaipur Rural constituency. She contested against Olympian Rajyavardhan Singh
Krishna Poonia
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Several Indian women have participated in the Olympics over the years. Seven women from India have won an Olympic medal so far. They are Karnam Malleswari, Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal, P. V. Sindhu (twice), Sakshi Malik, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and Lovlina Borgohain. The first Indian woman to ever win an Olympic medal was Karnam Malleswari, who won a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the Women's 69 kg category in Weightlifting. In the 2012 London Olympics, women's boxing was featured as a sport for the first time. India was represented by five-time world champion Mary Kom who was the only Indian to qualify for the event. However, she lost to Nicola Adams of the UK in the semi-final. She thus earned herself an Olympic bronze medal. Saina Nehwal became the first Indian to win a medal in Badminton at the Olympics, by winning the bronze medal at the London Olympics 2012 on 4 August 2012. Geeta Phogat became the first ever Indian woman to qualify for the women's 55 kg wrestling in the London Olympics 2012. Women's wrestling was announced in 2004. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, P. V. Sindhu became the first ever Indian woman to win a silver medal at the Olympics. She reached the Women's singles badminton final, which she lost to Carolina Marín of Spain on 19 August 2016. She also became the youngest Indian to win an Olympic medal. At the same Olympics, Sakshi Malik became the first Indian woman to win a medal in Wrestling. She won the bronze medal in Women's 58 kg freestyle wrestling. This was the first Olympics for India where all the medallists (2) were women. P. V. Sindhu, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and Lovlina Borgohain made India proud by winning medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Saikhom Mirabai Chanu won the silver medal on the very first day of the Tokyo Olympics 2020, where she achieved the second position after the total count of both Snatch and Clean & Jerk. Her highest lift at Snatch was 87 kg and at Clean & Jerk, she was able to lift 115 kg, making her overall score 202 kg. P. V. Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. Following up on her silver medal in Rio 2016, she secured the bronze medal in Tokyo 2020 by defeating China's He Bingjiao 21–13, 21–15 in two straight games. Lovlina Borgohain won her first Olympic medal in Women's welterweight boxing, where she assured herself a medal after she defeated Taiwan's Chen Nien-Chin in the quarterfinals. However, in the semifinals, she lost to Busenaz Sürmeneli of Turkey, earning herself the bronze medal. List of medalists References Articles created or expanded during Women's History Month (India) - 2014 Olympics, Indian women Women Olympians, India
Indian women at the Olympics
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Rahi Jeevan Sarnobat (Marathi: राही सरनोबत) is a female athlete from India who competes in the 25 metre pistol shooting event. She won her first gold medal at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India. She is the first woman to win a gold medal in shooting at the Asian Games for India – she won the gold at the 2018 Jakarta Palembang Asian Games in the women's 25 metre pistol event. She won two gold medals in 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, the first of the two golds in coming in the 25 metre pistol pair event with Anisa Sayyed. She had previously won gold in the 25 metre pistol event at the 2008 Youth Commonwealth Games, which were held in India. Personal life and background Sarnobat hails from Kolhapur in Maharashtra. During her school days, she was introduced to firearms as part of NCC training. She demonstrated natural skills in using firearms from an early age. In her early days of the sport, Sarnobat had to navigate inadequate infrastructure and facilities in her home town of Kolhapur. She then decided to train in Mumbai, which had better facilities. Her inspiration is fellow Maharashtrian and 50m rifle pro World Champion Tejaswini Sawant. Professional achievements Sarnobat became India's first pistol shooter to win a gold medal in the World Cup when she won the 25 metre pistol event in the ISSF World Cup in Changwon. In the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow, she won gold in the women's 25 metre pistol event. In the same year, she won the bronze medal in the 25 metre pistol team event at the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon, where she teamed up with Anisa Sayyed and Heena Sidhu. An injury caused by an accident in 2015 came as a setback for Sarnobat; it affected her elbow, which took almost two years to fully heal. She made it back to the Indian national team and started working with German coach Munkhbayar Dorjsuren, who helped Sarnobat gain physical fitness and mental strength. Ironically Dorjsuren was one of Sarnobat's competitors at the 2012 Olympics. Her bronze medal in the 2011 World Cup event at Fort Benning led to her selection for the London Olympics in 2012, thereby becoming the first female Indian shooter to qualify for the 25 metre sports pistol event in the Olympics. In May 2015, Sarnobat was recommended for the country's prestigious Arjuna Award by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI). On 22 August 2018, she became the first Indian woman to become an individual Asian Games gold medallist in shooting by winning the 25 metre pistol event with a Games record score of 34. She won the shoot-off against her Thai opponent to win the gold. In ISSF World Cup in Osijek, Sarnobat won the gold medal in the women's 25m pistol event. The 30-year-old fired a final score of 39 after qualifying second with a total of 591. Her stupendous performance in the final earned her the Tokyo's
Rahi Sarnobat
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Akhtar Hussain () (23 August 1926 – 9 November 1987) was an Indian and Pakistani field hockey player, who won the gold medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics for India and the silver medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics for Pakistan. He is one of the first people in history to win Olympic medals for two distinct countries. References External links 1926 births 1987 deaths Indian emigrants to Pakistan Muhajir people Pakistani male field hockey players Olympic field hockey players for India Olympic field hockey players for Pakistan Field hockey players at the 1948 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1956 Summer Olympics Indian male field hockey players Olympic gold medalists for India Olympic silver medalists for Pakistan Olympic medalists in field hockey Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Akhtar Hussain (field hockey)
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The women's individual archery event at the 2012 Olympic Games was held from 27 July to 2 August 2012 at Lord's Cricket Ground in London in the United Kingdom. The event was one of four which comprised the 2012 Olympic archery programme of sports and was the eleventh time the women's individual competition was contested as an Olympic event. Forty different nations qualified for the competition, sending a total of sixty-four archers to compete. The defending Olympic champion from 2008 was Zhang Juanjuan of China, who did not compete following her retirement in 2010. Ki Bo-Bae of South Korea won the gold medal, defeating Mexico's Aída Román in a one-arrow shoot-off to become her nation's seventh female archer to become individual Olympic champion. Mariana Avitia of Mexico finished third, defeating Khatuna Lorig of the United States to win the bronze medal. Román and Avitia became the first Mexican archers to ever win an Olympic medal. Background The women's individual event has been held as part of every Summer Olympics archery programme since the 1972 Games in Munich. Since the 1984 Summer Olympics, archers from South Korea had dominated the event, claiming six of the previous seven gold medals. Their winning streak was broken at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing when Zhang Juanjuan defeating defending Olympic champion Park Sung-hyun in the final, becoming the first non-South Korean archer to win the women's individual gold medal since Keto Losaberidze of the Soviet Union in 1980. In October 2011 an official test event, the London Archery Classic, was held at the Lord's Cricket Ground to evaluate the venue's preparations and give archers and coaches the chance to familiarise themselves with the location and schedule ahead of the Games the following year. Jung Dasomi of South Korea, who held the top position in the World Archery rankings, won the women's individual event, defeating Poland's Justyna Mospinek in the final. Ki Bo-bae of South Korea won the bronze medal ahead of Japan's Ren Hayakama. Qualification Sixty-four places were available for the event with each National Olympic Committee (NOC) being represented by a maximum of three archers. Qualification was primarily achieved through the World Archery Championships held in Turin in July 2011, with the remaining places allocated to the nations of most successful athletes at a series of continental championships held between October 2011 and May 2012. As host nation Great Britain qualified three places automatically; ten other nations (China, Denmark, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, and Ukraine) additionally qualified the maximum berth of archers. Great Britain's national selection trials saw Olympic debutante Amy Oliver and two-time Olympian Naomi Folkard succeed to partner 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Alison Williamson, who became the third British athlete to be selected for a sixth Olympic Games, having made her debut at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Chekrovolu Swuro and the highly rated 18-year old Deepika Kumari joined 2008 Olympian Bombayla Devi Laishram to spearhead the Indian contingent, the trio having together won silver
Archery at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's individual
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Fouaad Mirza (born 6 March 1992) is an Indian equestrian who won silver medals in both individual eventing and team eventing at the 2018 Asian Games. He became the first Indian since 1982 to win a medal at an individual equestrian event at the Asian Games. Mirza qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics, becoming the first Indian equestrian since Imtiaz Anees (2000) to participate at the Games. Early life Fouaad Mirza was born in Bangalore, India. His father, Dr Hasneyn Mirza, is one of India's top equine veterinarians and is a sixth generation horseman himself (being the great-grandson of Mirza Ismail and the great-great-great grandson of Agha Aly Asker). His family owns a stud farm in Bangalore. He has an elder brother, who is also a veterinarian. Fouaad's interest in horses grew since he was a toddler. He started riding since he was 5 years old. Career At the age of 22, Mirza took part in the 2014 Asian Games, held in Incheon, South Korea. He finished in 5th position in team eventing along with fellow riders Sangram Singh, Mrityunjay Singh Rathore and Ajai Poovaiah. He finished in 10th position in the individual eventing category. In 2017, Mirza moved to Germany to train with equestrian Bettina Hoy in Warendorf. After Hoy took a coaching position for the Dutch eventing team, he moved to Ganderkesee to train with Sandra Auffarth. Fouaad Mirza's move to Germany was a turning point in his career. He won two silver medals at the Equestrian Jumping Final at the Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta, one in individual eventing, and one in team eventing along with fellow Indian riders Rakesh Kumar, Ashish Malik and Jitender Singh. With this feat, Mirza became the first Indian to win an Asian Games medal in Equesterian event after a gap of 36 years. In 2019, Mirza received the Arjuna Award. In October 2019, he won gold at CCI3*-S event held in Strzegom, Poland with his horse Dajara. On 7 January 2020, Mirza qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after finishing first in South East Asia, Oceania group. He became the first Indian equestrian in the last 20 years to qualify for the Olympics. and the first Indian equestrian to reach the finals of the Olympic individual eventing category. He finished in 23rd position aboard the 2006 Westphalian gelding, Seigneur Medicott. Personal life Fouaad Mirza studied psychology in the University of Northampton, Great Britain. He currently resides in Germany and trains under his coach, Sandra Auffarth, who is the winner of the individual bronze medal and team gold medal in 2012 Summer Olympics. He is sponsored by the Embassy Group, which is a privately held real estate developer based in Bangalore, Karnataka. References 1992 births Living people Indian male equestrians Sportspeople from Bangalore Equestrians at the 2014 Asian Games Equestrians at the 2018 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for India Asian Games medalists in equestrian Recipients of the Arjuna Award Equestrians at the 2020 Summer
Fouaad Mirza
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Shiva Thapa (born 8 December 1993) is an Indian boxer. Thapa participated in the 2012 London Olympics, and was the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics. Thapa is ranked 3rd in the bantamweight category in the AIBA Men's World Ranking. He is the third Indian to clinch gold at the Asian Games. Thapa is the third Indian boxer to win a medal at the AIBA World Boxing Championships. Thapa has been elected as a member of the International Boxing Association (amateur) Athletes Committee. Early life Shiva Thapa is the youngest of six children born to an Indian Gorkha father Padam Thapa, a karate instructor in Guwahati. His elder brother Gobind Thapa was an Assam state-level medal winning boxer; Mike Tyson's bouts also inspired him to take the sport seriously. Shiva rose as early as 3 a.m. to balance his training and studies. Padam ensured that the monthly expenditure of was taken care of. Olympic Gold Quest, a not-for-profit foundation to identify and support Indian athletes, decided to support the young boxer as a part of their Vision 2016 initiative. While signing Thapa, Viren Rasquinha, the chief operating officer of Olympic Gold Quest said: Shiva is an enormous talent. He must be groomed well because he has the talent, the right attitude and the hunger to succeed. OGQ has very high hopes from Shiva and I am confident that he will become one of India's top boxing stars in the near future. Career Amateur career At the 2008 Children Asia International Sports Games that was held in Yakutsk (Russia) Shiva Thapa won a bronze medal in his category. At the same year's Haider Aliyev Cup, he won the gold medal. Owing to this performance, he was chosen to represent India in the 52-kg category at the 2009 Junior World Boxing Championships in Armenia. Incidentally, Thapa was the lone international medalist from the team of seven boxers that travelled to Yerevan. Though Thapa ended up with a bronze medal, the coach expressed his satisfaction at the boxers' performance who returned with their biggest haul of medals from this competition. At the 2010 Asian Youth Boxing Championships in Tehran, Thapa failed to reach the semifinals in his category. At the Second Youth World Amateur Boxing Championships, Thapa was a part of the Indian team. This competition attracted a large number of boxers because it was the only qualification event for the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. Touted to be a strong gold medalist, Thapa lost the finals and ended up with a silver medal. An injured fist during the semifinal bout left him in poor shape before the final bout. After having qualified for the Summer Youth Olympics, the Indian coach suggested Thapa with a 20-day break to recover from his injury. At the Youth Olympics, Thapa won the silver medal in the 54-kg category after losing to a Cuban boxer in the finals. Qualification to 2012 London Olympics In 2012 Asian Olympic Qualifiers held in Astana, Kazakhstan, Shiva defeated Syria's Wessam
Shiva Thapa
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Shooting is an important Olympic sport in India. Of India's 35 Olympic medals, four have come from shooting, including a gold by Abhinav Bindra in the 2008 Olympics. Indian shooters who have excelled at international events include Abhinav Bindra, Jaspal Rana, Jitu Rai, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Vijay Kumar, Gagan Narang, Apurvi Chandela, Ronjan Sodhi, Anjali Bhagwat, Heena Sidhu, Shreyasi Singh, Manu Bhaker, Anisa Sayyed, Rahi Sarnobat and Saurabh Chaudhary. History Shooting sports have a varied history in India. Initially they were played by royal people of British India for amusement and recreation. The highest governing body of shooting sports in India is National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), which was established on 17 April 1951. From then on India achieved some success in the Olympic games by winning a Gold. But largely this sport is not affordable to command Indians because of a lack of shooting ranges and facilities in the country. 2012 Olympics The Indian shooting contingent for the 2012 London was one of the largest to date. There were a total of 11 shooters including 4 female shooters. India's first medal in the 2012 Olympics was when Gagan Narang won the bronze in the 10m Air Rifle event. This was the same event in which Abhinav Bindra won India's first individual gold medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics Beijing. The second medal came from the unheralded army man Vijay Kumar when he won the silver in the 25m rapid fire pistol event after finishing 4th in the qualification rounds. He had to fend off some tough competition from the third placed Chinese Ding Feng. A notable performance was made by Joydeep Karmakar who finished 4th in the 50m rifle prone event. A strong medal prospect Ronjan Sodhi who is an Asian Games gold medallist, however crashed out in the qualification rounds of the Double trap event. Medal winners at Summer Olympics Total medals won by Indian Shooters in Major tournaments Other Notable Performances at Summer Olympics Administration The sport is administered in India by The National Rifle Association of India. The association organises the following tournaments every year: National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) All India G.V. Mavlankar Shooting Championship (AIGVMSC) Sardar Sajjan Singh Sethi Memorial Masters Shooting Championship Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial Shooting Championship All India Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial Inter School Shooting Championship See also Shooting at the Summer Olympics References External links India's 1st website on Shooting Sports – indianshooting.com
Shooting sports in India
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India competed at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games (officially known as the IV Commonwealth Youth Games) held in the Isle of Man from 7 to 13 September 2011. India has participated in all the editions of the Commonwealth Youth Games. The nation was represented by the Indian Olympic Association, which is responsible for the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games in India. The delegation of India consisted of 20 competitors, participating in four—athletics, badminton, boxing and cycling—out of the seven sports of the programme, and 11 officials. Durgesh Kumar, Navjetdeep Singh and Pusarla Sindhu won gold medals for India in 400 m hurdles, shot put, and women's singles event of badminton, respectively. Badminton player Srikanth Kidambi became the only Indian athlete to win multiple medals, including a silver in mixed doubles (paired with Maneesha Kukkapalli) and a bronze in men's doubles (paired with Hema Thandarang). India devolved from the top position in the previous Games to the ninth position with total of nine medals (equally distributed in all medal categories). Background India has participated in the Commonwealth Games since their second revision in 1934 (the then-British Empire Games), held in London, England. The Indian Olympic Association, the country's National Olympic Committee, is responsible for the Commonwealth and Commonwealth Youth Games in India. The nation has sent its delegation to all the editions of the Commonwealth Youth Games. India has hosted the Commonwealth and Commonwealth Youth Games in 2010 and 2008 in New Delhi and Pune, respectively. In the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games, India won the most gold (33), silver (26) and total medals, and finished first in the final medal table standings. In the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games, Indian Olympic Association sent a delegation consisted of twenty athletes (twelve men and eight women) and eleven officials (including coaches and supporting staff). Medalists Indian athletes won a total of nine medals at the Games, equally distributed among all categories of medals. India devolved to ninth position in the final medal table standings, behind Malaysia; India was ranked first in the medal table of the previous Commonwealth Youth Games, with total 76 medals. Pusarla Venkata Sindhu, supported by the Olympic Gold Quest, won a gold for India in the women's singles event of badminton. The other two gold medals came from Durgesh Kumar and Navjetdeep Singh, who finished on the top of the podium of 400 m hurdles and shot put, respectively. Badminton player Srikanth Kidambi was the only multiple medal winning Indian athlete at the Games, winning a silver in mixed doubles and a bronze in men's doubles. Two pugilists, Rahul Poonia and Surender Singh, won medals in their respective weight categories. Poonia won silver in light flyweight and Singh won bronze in middleweight. Athletics Navjeet Kaur Dhillon was one of seven athletes to participate in the women's discus throw event. With a throw of 45.27 m, Dhillon won a bronze medal. Durgesh Kumar completed his heat of 400 m hurdles with a time of 53.15 and qualified for final. He
India at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games
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Lilima Minz (born 10 April 1994) is an Indian female field hockey player. Lilima hails from Bihabandh-Tanatoli village, Lanjiberna Block, Sundargarh District of Odisha. She is a product of Sports Hostel, Panposh, Rourkela, Odisha. Career Lilima Minz, born on 10 April 1994, trained at the Sports Hostel, Panposh, Rourkela, Odisha. Lilima represented Indian senior team for the first time in 2011 during a four-nation tournament in Argentina. She was part of Indian women hockey's team that won the bronze medal in junior's hockey world cup for the first time in 2013. In March 2018, Minz completed her 100 appearances for the National team. Minz was also part of the squad that represented India in 2016 summer Olympics after 36 years. She was also part of Asian cup winning squad in 2017. Lilima was one of the four players who were made to sit on the floor of the train for an hour due to unconfirmed railway ticket on their way back to home from Rio Olympics. Awards and achievements Lilima has appeared for Indian National team in more than 100 matches. Received a special incentive of Rs 10 Lakh for participation in Rio Olympic Games by Odisha Mining Corporation. Was awarded Rs. 75,000 by Odisha government and Rs. 10,000 by Odisha Cricket Association in October 2014 for helping India win women's bronze medal in the 17th Asian Games at Incheon. Was felicitated by Mahanadi Coalfields Limited felicitated with a cash award of Rs 1 lakh for helping India win bronze medal in the 2013 Junior Women Hockey World Cup in Germany. International Part of the Indian team that won the bronze medal in the Girls U-18 Asia Cup Hockey Championship at Bangkok, Thailand (25 September 2011). Represented Indian senior women's hockey team in the FIH World League (Round 2) at New Delhi from 18 to 24 February 2013. She was a part of the Indian team that won the bronze medal for the first time in Women's Junior Hockey World Cup at Monchengladbach in Germany on 4 July 2013. Member of the Indian team that won the women's hockey test series 6–0 against Malaysia held at Kualalumpur from 9 to 17 June 2014. She was part of the Indian women team in 20th Commonwealth Games, held in Glasgow from 23 July to 3 August 2014. She was a member of the Indian women hockey team that won the bronze medal in the 17th Asian Games at Incheon ( South Korea ) on 1 October 2014. Played her 50th match for the Indian women hockey team against the China in the Hawke's Bay Cup at Hastings in New Zealand on 11 April 2015. Completed her 100 appearances for India against Korea in March 2018. Represented India in the Rio Olympics, Brazil, 2016. She was part of the 2017 Asian cup winning squad. Represented India in 2018 Commonwealth Games. Represented India in the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup in London. National Represented Panposh Hostel in the Junior Nehru Cup Hockey Tournament in
Lilima Minz
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Saina Nehwal (; born 17 March 1990) is an Indian professional badminton player. A former world no. 1, she has won 24 international titles, which includes ten Superseries titles. Although she reached the world's 2nd in 2009, it was only in 2015 that she was able to attain the world no. 1 ranking, thereby becoming the only female player from India and thereafter the second Indian player – after Prakash Padukone – to achieve this feat. She has represented India three times in the Olympics, winning a bronze medal in her second appearance at London 2012. Nehwal has achieved several milestones in badminton for India. She is the only Indian to have won at least one medal in every BWF major individual event, namely the Olympics, the BWF World Championships, and the BWF World Junior Championships. She is the first Indian badminton player to have won an Olympic medal, the first Indian to have reached the final of the BWF World Championships, and the first Indian to have won the BWF World Junior Championships. In 2006, Nehwal became the first Indian female and the youngest Asian to win a 4-star tournament. She is also the first Indian to win a Super Series title. In the 2014 Uber Cup, she captained the Indian team and remained undefeated, helping India to win a first-ever Uber Cup bronze medal. Nehwal also became the first Indian to win two singles gold medals (2010 and 2018) at the Commonwealth Games. Considered one of India's most successful badminton players, Nehwal is credited for increasing the popularity of badminton in India. In 2016, she was conferred the Padma Bhushan – India's third highest civilian award. Previously, she had also received the nation's top two sporting honours, namely the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna and the Arjuna Award. Nehwal is a philanthropist and was ranked 18th on the list of most charitable athletes in 2015. Early life Saina Nehwal, the daughter of Harvir Singh Nehwal and Usha Rani Nehwal, was born in Hisar. She has an elder sister named Chandranshu Nehwal. Her father, who has a PhD in agricultural science, worked at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University. She completed her first few years of schooling at Campus School CCS HAU, Hisar. She finished 12th grade from the St. Ann's College for Women, Hyderabad. When her father was promoted and transferred from Haryana to Hyderabad, she took up badminton at the age of eight to express herself, as she did not know the local language well enough to socialise with other kids. Her parents played badminton for a number of years. Her mother, Usha Rani, was a state level badminton player in Haryana. Nehwal took up badminton to fulfill her mother's dream of becoming a national level badminton player, while her sister played volleyball. Her father, who was among the top players in the university circuit, used his provident fund to invest in good badminton training for her. After moving to Hyderabad in 1998, she was enrolled in
Saina Nehwal
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Katya Ida Coelho (born 13 August 1999) is an Indian professional windsurfer who is currently India's only Women iQFoiler and the first Indian to win an IQFoil Medal at the International Windsurfing Cup in July 2022 in Pattaya, Thailand. Early and personal life Katya Ida Coelho was born on 13 August 1999, to a former national windsurfing champion of India Donald Coelho, who also introduced windsurfing in Goa at The Goa Beach Sports Academy (GBSA) in association with the Water & Beach Sports Promotion Forum. Her brother Dayne Edgar Agnelo Coelho is also a windsurfing champion. Together they are called Coelho siblings. Career Coelho started windsurfing at the age of 11 and went on to compete in the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics at the age of 14. In addition to her achievements, Coelho also had the honor of representing India at the 2018 Asian Games Mixed RS:One event. She formed a team with her brother, Dayne Edgar Agnelo Coelho, and together they competed as Team India. In July 2022, Coelho represented India at the International Windsurfing Cup in Pattaya, Thailand. She secured second place, making her the first Indian to win an IQFoil Medal. Awards Coelho has won 10 national gold medals and 2 bronze medals at the Asian Open Championship in Techno 2015. References External links Profile at Olympic Council 1999 births Living people Indian female sailors (sport) Sailors at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics Sailors at the 2018 Asian Games
Katya Coelho
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Chadalavada Anandha Sundhararaman Bhavani Devi, known as C. A. Bhavani Devi, (born 27 August 1993), is an Indian sabre fencer. She became the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics after qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is supported by GoSports Foundation through the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme. She became the first Indian fencer to win a medal at the Asian Fencing Championships by winning the bronze medal the 2023 edition. Childhood and early career Bhavani was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Her father belonged to a Telugu family from Samalkot town in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh who eventually moved to Chennai. She started her sports career in 2004. She did her schooling at Muruga Dhanushkodi Girls Higher Secondary, Chennai and then attended the St. Joseph's College of Engineering, Chennai and went on to complete Business Administration from Government Brennen College in Thalassery, Kerala. In 2004, she was introduced to fencing at school level. After finishing class 10 she joined the SAI (Sports Authority of India) Centre in Thalassery, Kerala. At the age of 14 she appeared at her first international tournament in Turkey, where she got black card for being late by three minutes. In 2010 Asian Championship in the Philippines she bagged Bronze medal. Tournaments and medals Starting from the Bronze medal at 2009 Commonwealth Championship held in Malaysia, Bhavani has won Bronze medals in 2010 International Open, Thailand; 2010 Cadet Asian Championship, Philippines; 2012 Common Wealth Championship, Jersey; 2015 Under-23 Asian Championship, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and 2015 Flemish Open. In 2014 Asian Championship under 23 category in the Philippines she bagged the Silver medal becoming the first Indian to do so. After her successful 2014 Asian Championship Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa honoured her with INR three lakh as financial aid for training in the US. In 2015, she became one of the 15 athletes selected 'Go Sports Foundation' for Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme. She has received 2 Gold Medals, one each at the 2012 CommonWealth Championship, Jersey and the 2014 Tuscany Cup, Italy. She finished fifth in the Viking Cup 2016 Icelandic International Sabre Tournaments held at Reykjavik. She won a silver medal in the women's sabre individual category in the 2019 Tournoi Satellite Fencing Competition in Ghent, Belgium, after losing to Bashta Anna from Azerbaijan. She made history by becoming the first Indian to win a gold medal at the senior Commonwealth Fencing Championship in Canberra in the sabre event. She beat Catriona Thomson from Scotland in the semi-finals and then defeated England's Emily Ruaux. She trains in Italy as well as at the Sports Authority of India in Thalassery, Kerala. In 2021, she competed at the Tokyo Olympics. As of April 2021, she ranks 42nd in the world with 37.0 points. Awards and rewards • Arjuna Award (2021) References External links 1993 births Living people Indian female sabre fencers Sportswomen from Tamil Nadu Martial artists from Chennai Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for India Indian expatriates
C. A. Bhavani Devi
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Dharmendra Singh Yadav (born 29 December 1972) is an Indian boxer who won a bronze medal in 1990 Asian Championship. He received Arjuna Award for boxing in 1991. Yadav represented India 19 times in international events from 1989 to 1994. He won three silver and seven bronze medals. He won a bronze medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games (light flyweight division). He turned professional in 1995, the first Indian boxer to do so. Yadav competed in the flyweight division at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He was defeated in the first round by Hungary's István Kovács. He finished in 17th place. Yadav Is an ACP In Delhi Police. Yadav is India's first professional Boxer with an unbeaten record of 6 wins together. Yadav Won Silver Medal in SAF Games at Islamabad, Pakistan In 1989. Yadav Won Bronze Medal in Asian Championships at Beijing, China In 1989. Yadav Won Bronze Medal in Commonwealth Games at Auckland (New Zealand) In 1990. Won Bronze Medal in Padrosoto Alba International Boxing Championships at Cuba In 1990. Yadav Participated in Asian Games held at Beijing, China In 1990. Won Gold Medal in INDO USSR Boxing Championships at Hyderabad (A.P). Yadav Is First Indian Semi Finalist in Sixth World Cup at Mumbai (India) and was adjudged the Most Promising Boxer of Sixth World Cup and was awarded BATA POWER Trophy In 1990. Yadav Won Bronze Medal in Asian Championship (Olympic Qualifying Championship) held at Bangkok, Thailand and qualified for Olympics (Barcelona 1992). Yadav Won Bronze medal at Padrosoto Alba and Giraldo-Cardova-Cardian in Cuba In 1992. Yadav Awarded "the most Promising Boxer" Award in Asia In 1992. Yadav Won Gold Medal in YMCA’s Invitational International Boxing Championship held at New Delhi and was declared as the Best Boxer of the Championship In 1993. Yadav Won Bronze Medal in SAF Games, Dhaka, Bangladesh In 1993. Yadav Won Silver Medal in Asian Invitational Championship at Beijing, China In 1993. Yadav Participated in King’s Cup International Tournament at Bangkok, Thailand 1993. Yadav Won Bronze medal at Padrosoto Alba and Giraldo-Cardova-Cardian in Cuba 1994. Yadav Participated in VII World Cup held at Bangkok, Thailand 1994. Professional Ranking 1995 to 1997 4th Rank (British Rating) 7th Rank PAN Asian Rating Professional boxing record See also Boxing at the 1992 Summer Olympics Boxing at the 1990 Commonwealth Games References External links 1972 births Indian male boxers Boxers from Delhi Olympic boxers for India Flyweight boxers Living people Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for India Boxers at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Boxers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing Place of birth missing (living people) Recipients of the Arjuna Award Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Boxers at the 1990 Asian Games
Dharmendra Singh Yadav
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India competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. A total of 83 athletes, 60 men and 23 women, competed in 13 sports. Men's field hockey was the only team-based sport in which India was represented in these Olympic Games. India also marked its Olympic return in weightlifting, after the International Weightlifting Federation imposed a two-year suspension for the nation's athletes because of a doping scandal in Beijing. The Indian team featured several Olympic medalists from Beijing, including rifle shooter and Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, who failed to advance into the final rounds of his event in London. Wrestler and Olympic bronze medalist Sushil Kumar, chosen by the Indian Olympic Association to be the nation's flag bearer at the opening ceremony, managed to claim another medal by winning silver in the men's freestyle wrestling. This was India's 2nd most successful Olympics in terms of total medals, they won a total of 6 medals (2 silver and 4 bronze), doubling the nation's previous record (3 medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics). Two medals were awarded to athletes in shooting and wrestling. Female Indian athletes won two Olympic medals in one Games for the first time. The two athletes were badminton player and world junior champion Saina Nehwal, who became the first Indian athlete to win an Olympic bronze medal in the women's singles, and boxer Mary Kom, who lost to Great Britain's Nicola Adams in the semi-final match and received a bronze medal in the first ever women's flyweight event. Medalists Competitors Archery Six Indian archers qualified for the London Olympics – 3 in women's recurve and 3 in men's recurve. Men Women Athletics Fourteen Indian athletes qualified for the Athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard).: Men Track & road events Field events Women Track & road events Field events Key Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only Q = Qualified for the next round q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target NR = National record SB = Seasonal best N/A = Round not applicable for the event Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round Badminton 5 Indian badminton players qualified for the London Olympics. Boxing Eight Indian boxers qualified for the London Olympics. Men Women Field hockey The Indian national Hockey team, on 26 February 2012, had qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics after winning the qualifying tournament against France with a score of 8–1. India was placed in Pool B of the men's tournament. Men's tournament Roster Group play All times are British Summer Time, (UTC+1). 11th–12th Place This was the worst show ever by India at the Olympics. Judo There was only one Indian judoka at the London Olympics. Rowing India had qualified the following boats. Men Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final
India at the 2012 Summer Olympics
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Gold: The Dream That United Our Nation, or simply Gold, is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language period sports film written and directed by Reema Kagti and produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani. The film stars an ensemble cast of Akshay Kumar, Mouni Roy, Amit Sadh, Kunal Kapoor, Vineet Kumar Singh, Sunny Kaushal and Nikita Dutta. Gold is based on the journey of India's national hockey team to the 1948 Summer Olympics and follows Tapan Das, the man who won India its first gold medal in the same event. Gold was theatrically released on 15 August 2018 during India's Independence Day. The film grossed against a budget of at the box office Gold also became the first Bollywood film to be released in Saudi Arabia. It was also released in Chinese theatres on 13 December 2019. Plot The story begins around the time of the Berlin Olympics in 1936, when the Indian team played the hockey finals against Germany. Despite the Germans attempting to play rough against the Indian team, the Indians start winning in the second half, when the team's assistant manager, Tapan Das (Akshay Kumar), shows them the Indian Flag during the half time break. When the captain Samrat (Kunal Kapoor) and team receive the gold medal, the British National Anthem is played and the flag of British India is hoisted, but the Indian team promise themselves that they will win a Gold medal once again on behalf of their motherland, after India gets Independence. The subsequent Olympics are cancelled because of World War II. After the war, a drunk and spoiled Tapan roams and loses in several bets but sobers up when he gets the news that the next Olympics will be held in London in 1948. He holds aspirations of making India play hockey as a free country, coaching a novice hockey team to earn independent India's first Olympic gold medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics. Tapan now struggles to win his position as a joint manager of the team and promises to bring up best players from the new generation. He manages to convince Mr. Wadia, and goes out for his work back. He meets the former hockey captain Samrat, now retired, to lead to guide the team. But Samrat refuses and suggests teammate Imtiaz Ali Shah (Vineet Kumar Singh). Imtiaz, a great contributor of the 1936 Olympics along with Samrat, was a soldier for the Indian National Army. Tapan meets Imtiaz and they decide to continue their dream and oath to win the gold medal for an independent India. With Independence for India looming on the horizon, Tapan travels to different parts of India to scout for the best players for the team. Finally Tapan keeps his promise and creates the national hockey team, taking players from several regions. Among them are Thakur Raghubir Pratap Singh (Amit Sadh) and Himmat Singh (Sunny Kaushal), a pair of talented centre forwards from Central India and Punjab. Meanwhile, India gets Independence, but is also partitioned into India and
Gold (2018 film)
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Erica Elizabeth Wiebe (born June 13, 1989) is a Canadian retired wrestler. She won gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics in women's 75 kg freestyle. Wiebe was the third Canadian champion ever in wrestling at the Olympics, and second Canadian woman to win gold after Carol Huynh. Wiebe also won gold at two Commonwealth Games: the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. Career Wiebe started wrestling in grade 9 when she saw a sign posted for co-ed wrestling at her school, Sacred Heart High School in Stittsville, Ontario. She travelled as part of Canada's extended team for the 2012 Summer Olympics. There she was the training partner for Leah Callahan in London. At the 2013 World University Games Wiebe won a bronze medal in the women's 72 kg freestyle weight class. She had an incredibly successful 2014 season when she won every individual tournament she entered, a streak of 36 matches. She won a gold medal in the 75 kg freestyle at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Celebrating her win after the bout she said "When I won it was emotional. This is what I have been thinking about and dreaming about. It was awesome to have that moment for myself, the first time that I did this at a big event. I have never had my anthem played so I was thinking about that before I went out there and that is what I was wrestling for today." Wiebe would also win gold at the 2015 World University Games. At the esteemed 2015 Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin she won the gold medal in her weight class. Despite the run of successes, Wiebe did not compete for Canada on home soil at the 2015 Pan American Games. The summer of 2016 saw Wiebe compete as part of Canada's 2016 Olympic team. In competition at the Olympics, she won gold, defeating Guzel Manyurova in the final event. After winning the Olympic title she said "I love this sport and I never thought I'd be an Olympic champion, but today I had my best day. It's amazing." The medal was the third gold medal in wrestling that Canada has ever won at the Olympics, and second ever women's gold. She follows in the footsteps of Daniel Igali who won gold at the 2000 Summer Olympics, and Carol Huynh who won the first for Canadian women at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Following her gold in Rio, Wiebe began wrestling in the Indian Pro Wrestling League where she was the captain of the Mumbai Maharathi. Wiebe's salary in the league is 4.3 million Indian rupees, which equates to more than $80,000 Canadian dollars, this makes her one of the highest paid wrestlers in the world. The event ran from January 2–19, 2017, where Wiebe wrestled to a perfect 3-0 in her bouts with the Maharathi, though the team's overall record was 1-2. In 2021, she won the gold medal in the 76 kg event
Erica Wiebe
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India competed in the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 August to 5 September 2021. Indian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Paralympics since 1984, though they made their official debut at the 1968 Summer Paralympics. This was India's most successful Paralympic season with 5 golds 8 silvers and 6 bronzes (total 19). Before this edition, India had won 12 medals (4 medals of each color) of all previous Paralympics appearances combined. Table tennis player Bhavina Patel won India's first olympics (Paralympic) medal in Table Tennis. Shooter Avani Lekhara scripted history as she became the first Indian to win a medal in Shooting in the Paralympics. She also became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal and become multiple medalist in Paralympics. Another shooter Singhraj Adhana won two medals - Silver in Mixed 50m pistol SH1 category and Bronze in Men's 10m air rifle SH1 category. Archer Harvinder Singh became the first Indian to win a medal in Archery at the olympics (Paralympic). He won a bronze medal in Men's Recurve Individual. In badminton Indian shuttler won a record number of medals including two golds (Pramod Bhagat - Men's singles SL3, Krishna Nagar - Men's singles SH6) one silver (Suhas Yathiraj - Men's Singles Badminton SL4) and one bronze (Manoj Sarkar - Men's Singles Badminton SL3). Mariyappan Thangavelu and Devendra Jhajharia won consecutive medals in their respective category (they both won gold in Rio 2016). They both won silver medals. Devendra's silver at the Tokyo Games took his overall individual tally to three medals and he's now level with legendary Paralympian Joginder Singh Bedi who also has three medals to his name at the Paralympic Games. In Javelin throw F64 another Indian Sumit Antil won agold medal (68.55 m) with new world record. Indian discus thrower Vinod Kumar lost his F52 category bronze medal after being found ineligible in the disability classification assessment. Mariyappan Thangavelu was originally the flag bearer but because of quarantine, the flag bearer was changed to Tek Chand. Medalists |style="text-align:left;width:60%;vertical-align:top"| Medals by Sport, Gender and Day |style="text-align:left;width:20%;vertical-align:top"| Competitors This year India sent its largest contingent of all time. Archery India archers achieved quota places for the following events from the 2019 World Para Archery Championships. Harvinder Singh and Vivek Chikara became the first male archers from the country to qualify for the games. They achieved this feat by finishing in the Top 16 in the World Championship. Rakesh Kumar and Shyam Sundar Swami also qualified from the World Championship. Jyoti Baliyan got the Bipartite Commission invitation to participate in the tournament. Men |- |align=left|Harvinder Singh |align=left rowspan=2|Individual Recurve Open |600 |21 |rowspan=2 |W 6–5 |W 6–5 |W 6–2 |L 4–6 |W 6–5 | |- |align=left|Vivek Chikara |609 |10 |W 6–2 |L 3–7 |colspan=3|Did not advance |9 |- |align=left|Rakesh Kumar |align=left rowspan=2|Individual Compound Open |699 |3 | |W 144–131 |W 140–137 |L 143–145 |colspan=2|Did not advance |5 |- |align=left|Shyam Sundar Swami |682 |21 | |L 139–142 |colspan=4|Did not advance |17
India at the 2020 Summer Paralympics
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Akhil Kumar (born 27 March 1981) is an Indian boxer who has won several international and national boxing awards. He practices an "open guarded" boxing style. In 2005, the Indian government gave him the Arjuna Award for his achievements in international boxing. In March 2017, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, appointed Akhil Kumar along with Mary Kom as national observers for boxing. He is a member of Haryana Police Service cadre and currently serves as the deputy superintendent of police. Worked as Nation Observer, Boxing (Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India) from 2017 to 2019. Member: High Powered Committee of Khelo India. Member: TIDC (Talent Identification and Development Committee) Khelo India (Boxing) One of the Panellist of the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) from 2017 to 2019 and from 2021 to till date. Appointed as the Selection Committee Member for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award in 2012. (Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award are National Awards. These are the award for the Best Sportsmen in India) Appointed as the Selection Committee Member for the Bhim Award in 2013. (Bhim Award is a State Award and it is an award for the best Sports person in Haryana) Competed One Year Regular SAI NS NIS Diploma in Sports Coaching (Boxing): Topper and A Grade. Selection Committee member (BFI) for selection of Indian Boxing team for international exposures. Career 1994–2004 Kumar first competed in International boxing in 1999, winning a gold medal in the 6th YMCA Junior International Boxing Championship. In 2001 he won another gold medal in the International Invitational Boxing Championship in Russia. In 2003, he won a gold medal in the flyweight category by defeating Vilitio M Payla (Php) 20-16. He won a Best Boxer award three times, in addition to twelve gold, one silver, and four bronze medals. 2004–2005 Kumar qualified for the Athens Games by winning second place at the 1st AIBA Asian 2004 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Guangzhou, China. In the first round he lost to Uzbekistan's Tulashboy Doniyorov. At the 2004 Olympics, he lost in the first round to Jerome Thomas. In 2005 Kumar won the gold medal at the 4th Commonwealth Federation Boxing Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. He defeated Bongani Mahalangu of South Africa by a narrow margin of 18-17 in the 54 kg final. 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games In the 2006 Commonwealth Games he won the gold medal in the Bantamweight 54 kg category by edging out Nigerian Nestor Bolum and defeating Mauritian Bruno Julie in the final. He landed six unanswered blows in the opening round of the final. The second round was quite even, with Kumar winning 5-4. He did slightly better in round 3, winning it 6-4, and despite losing the final round 3-4, succeeded in avoiding the single punch that might have cost him the tie. 2008 Beijing Olympics and AIBA World Cup Kumar qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games, beating among others the silver medallist from the
Akhil Kumar