Tokyo Games 2020: How The Women Stars Made India Proud With Their Stellar Performances
And just like that the Tokyo Games 2020 – the most unusual Games of all time which took place amid the COVID-19 pandemic – came to an end on Sunday. We saw some incredible performances, some disappointments and some wonderful wins.
India managed to bring home a total of seven medals out of which three were bagged by women. But going beyond just the realm of medals, this edition of the Olympics brought to spotlight some of the amazing talents including veterans, star players, unheard heroes and debutantes of our country. Let us take a look at these performances from the Tokyo Games.
This edition started with a bang for India with weightlifter Mirabai Chanu winning the silver medal in the 49kg division with a total lift of 202kg. The 26-year-old is the only second Indian weightlifter to win a medal at the Olympics, after Karnam Malleswari achieved the feat with a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Games.
Even though Mary Kom was considered as a strong contender for the medal this time, she had to bow out after the first round. But she won the hearts of the Indians for her impressive performances throughout.
Meanwhile, young Lovlina Borgohain fought out to win another medal for India. She brought home a bronze medal in the women’s welterweight in boxing.
Also read: Paving The Road To A Podium Finish: The Story of Lovlina Borgohain
The Indian women’s hockey deserves special appreciation this time as it got instant recognition and fame that it had never received before. The girls managed to enter the semi-finals for the first time in Olympic history. Though they were defeated in the final match, one cannot cease to laud the efforts put in by Rani Rampal and team.
On the other hand, star badminton player PV Sindhu had another historic win in the Tokyo Games. She became the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. Her earlier Olympic stint was in the Rio Games, where she won the silver medal for India.
In athletics, Olympic debutant Kamalpreet Kaur got a good start when she qualified for the discus throw final. Her’s was the second best throw overall in the qualification round. She, however, settled at sixth position in the finals.
20km race walker Priyanka Goswami too made a mark by finishing her race in top 20. She was leading at the halfway mark but fell behind later and finished 17th at the end.
Meanwhile, CA Bhavani Devi, India’s first-ever fencer to qualify for the Olympics made the country proud as she won India’s first-ever fencing match at the Tokyo Games. However, her dream Olympic debut at the Games ended in the Round of 32 as she lost to World No 3 Manon Brunet.
Table tennis star player Manika Batra too had a good Olympic outing with the Tokyo Games. She created history by becoming the first Indian table tennis player to reach the third round but was defeated in the round.
Golf has long been an ignored sport in our country. But Aditi Ashok managed to hook Indians’ attention to the sport during the Tokyo Games. The 23-year-old golfer from Bengaluru had been in the Silver medal position after 54 holes (by three rounds). She narrowly missed the medal and finished fourth after having gone toe-to-toe with the best in the world.
While these were some of the key outings by the players, there were many others who could not create a mark with their sport. However, with many international events underway, we hope to see them shine.
Also read: Mirabai Chanu, MC Mary Kom, Manika Batra: Why Are Female Athletes Hailed As ‘Bharat ki Beti’?
(Edited by Amrita Ghosh)
