The Olympics is one of the most coveted sports tournaments in the world, if not the most coveted. Athletes toil away and await for the time space of four years to pass by and have them be privy to the magic of the Games.
To state that the Olympics is just another tournament would be unjust and a disservice to the long, ethereal history of the tournament. To put it lightly, it is a festival of sportsmanship and camaraderie. A celebration of human civilization’s hunger to emerge as the best.
In the same spirit of sportsmanship, Indian athletes have pledged their allegiances to their respective sport. The Tokyo Olympics have provided us with series of both awe-inspiring and heartbreaking tales.
However, what stood as a testament is the absolute dedication of the Indian athletes towards their sport and their country. Thus, to commemorate their achievements in the Tokyo Olympics 2020, we name a few athletes who have made the international community take note.
Atanu Das
The face of the men’s archery team, Atanu Das, gave two times Olympic champion, South Korea’s Oh Jin Hyek, a run for his money. Das secured a marginal 6-5 victory over the veteran in a hard-fought battle of perception and wit.
Deepika Kumari, began the trend of Indians dominating the field of archery when she became World No. 1, and it seems only poetic to have her husband carry the baton for India.
Atanu Das now has his work cut out for him as he goes toe to toe against one of Japan’s archery veterans and one of the all-time greats in the modern sphere of archery, Takaharu Furukawa.
To say that the battle is over would be an injustice to Das as well as Furukawa, as it has only just begun. I will be keeping my fingers crossed and my nerves in anticipation for the match will be one for the ages.
Pooja Rani
One would have to look twice to realize that this year’s Olympics is Pooja Rani’s debut, at least in this particular tourney.
She is no stranger to accolades if one is to go through her cabinet of silverware as she has bagged medals in the Asian Games, South Asian Games and the Asian Championship if we are to list a few. If this doesn’t serve as an adequate depiction of her accomplishments, then all one would have to do is watch her fight with Ichrak Chaib.
She scored a clean victory and now finds herself in the quarter finals facing China’s Li Qian. If she scores a win in this match then she is guaranteed to secure a medal, no matter what.
No matter the outcome, Rani’s debut in the Olympics is one of greatness and it will reverberate through generations owing to how exciting the journey has been.
Also Read: Watch: Indians Who Rose To Global Glory At The Olympics
P.V. Sindhu
Pusarla Venkata Sindu, or P.V. Sindhu is probably the most well known athlete on the entire list. It is only fair for her to be owing to the fact that she has been synonymous with badminton in India for well over a decade.
Honestly, it wouldn’t even be far-fetched to say that she is one of the best badminton players in the world, both currently and of all time.
She defeated Akane Yamaguchi in the quarter-finals with phenomenal ease, and booked a slot in the semi-finals with World No. 1, Taiwan’s Tai Tsu-ying. As she inches closer to a medal, the fight ahead of her will be hard-fought and exhausting. However, no matter how exhausting, it is my belief and the entire country’s that she will make the country proud.
Lovlina Borgohain
As of now, many are aware of who Lovlina Borgohain is although it probably isn’t through her performance or her face, for that matter. If you are from Assam then you probably know her through the many banners placed throughout the state with the face of local politicians wishing her good luck.
It is no surprise to any Indian to see politicians piggybacking on the success of its athletes and furthering their own ideals.
For the ones who aren’t aware, Lovlina is the athlete who is bound to bring back home India’s second assured medal as she defeated the world champion, Chen Nien-chin, in a breeze of a match.
Securing a 4-1 win, she booked a slot into the semi-finals wherein she is pitted against Turkey’s Busenaz Surmeneli. As Lovlina had said upon securing her semi-final berth, she will be fighting for gold and not settle for anything less. That is the fighting spirit that we all love to see.
Mirabai Chanu
Mirabai Chanu’s name has now taken shelter in each and every Indian’s lips as she, until now, was the only athlete to have secured a medal for India.
Chanu secured a silver medal in the Women’s Weightlifting 49 kg category and she created a milestone. She is the first and only woman to secure a medal in this weightlifting category for India at the Olympics.
Taking inspiration from her hometown’s and India’s weightlifting legend, Kunjarani Devi, she set out on her journey to set milestone upon milestone in weightlifting.
It would be surprising to many if I state that it was her debut Olympics but that is the truth and she trumped many a veteran as she secured the silver medal.
All I can hope for her at the moment is for a straight path to astounding success and a rather wishful desire for corporates to lay off from trying to suck the marrow off her success.
There obviously are numerous other Indian athletes who exacted astounding success in the Olympics, however, it is all about providing the voiceless with a voice, no matter the scenario. I will still be crossing my fingers and wishing for absolute success for India through thick and through thin.
Image Sources: Google Images
Sources: Times of India, The Bridge, Olympics
Connect with the blogger: @kushan257
This post is tagged under: individual olympic medal winners, individual olympic medals, india commonwealth, sports in india, wrestling india, sports scam, pv sindhu, pv sindhu coach, growth of badminton in India , doping in sports, air rifle shooting, deepika kumari, atanu das, mirabai chanu, mary kom, lovlina borgohain, pooja rani, Olympics, Olympics 2020, olympics tokyo 2020, 2020 olypmics tokyo, tokyo olympics, archery, boxing, weightlifting, silver medal, Olympics medal.
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