Republic Day 2023: India has made great strides in sports since gaining independence on August 15, 1947, from earning their first-ever Olympic gold medal in field hockey in 1948 to posting one of the best-ever performances at the recently finished Commonwealth Games 2022. Here is a look at some of the most breathtaking moments of our country in the sphere of sports, in advance of Republic Day 2023.
Maiden Olympic Medal
India first competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, where they also won their first medal, after becoming independent on August 15, 1947. The renowned Indian men’s hockey team, which had won three straight gold medals prior to independence, went on to take home the nation’s first-ever gold medal in the major competition before repeating the achievement in 1952 and 1956.
At the Helsinki Olympics in 1952, the men’s freestyle bantamweight wrestling competition, Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav became the first Indian athlete to take home a medal (bronze). Hockey, in which the men’s team won five gold medals at the 1980 Olympics and the victory in other contests, was by far India’s most successful sport up until that point.
Lifting the cricket world cup in 1983
But India’s domination in cricket really began to take off in 1983. The Men in Blue eventually defeated the powerful West Indies side, who had won two consecutive World Cups in 1975 and 1979, with the famous Kapil Dev serving as captain. Cricket became a religion in India at that period.
India won the ODI World Cup for the first time in 1983, but it wouldn’t be until 2011 that the nation could once again commemorate the historic event. MS Dhoni guided India to a victory nobody imagined. Many Indians flocked to the streets to celebrate the monumental victory after the Men in Blue defeated Sri Lanka in the championship game at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium in 2011.
How did India perform in other sports
Even though India’s success in sports outside of hockey and cricket was limited until the 1990s, Leander Paes’ bronze medal in men’s singles tennis at the Atalanta Olympics gave millions of Indians hope and inspiration that they, too, could succeed on the biggest of platforms. After his triumph, Karnam Malleswari took home the bronze medal in women’s 69kg weightlifting in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, and it wasn’t until 2004 that Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore earned India its first-ever individual silver medal at the Olympics.
Since 2008, India has become increasingly successful in a wide range of sports. India, who had only ever won one Olympic medal since gaining its independence, took home three medals in 2008, including its first gold in an individual event. In the men’s 10m air rifle shooting competition at the Beijing Olympics, Abhinav Bindra brought honour to his country by taking home the gold medal. At the same competition, Vijender Singh and Sushil Kumar each took home a bronze medal in the weightlifting and boxing events.
Neeraj Chopra’s historic moment
In addition to winning India’s second gold medal in an Olympic individual competition last year, Neeraj Chopra also ended a record 100-year wait for an athletics medal at the main competition. His gold medal in Tokyo served as a metaphor for India’s progress in a range of sports.
Along with Neeraj, other silver medalists were Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and Ravi Kumar Dahiya. P. V. Sindhu, Lovlina Borgohain, the men’s field hockey team, and Bajrang Punia each took home a bronze. The Paralympians also displayed a record performance, so it wasn’t only the Olympians who put on a great show.
Grand performance at Commonwealth Games 2022
Even if the Indian team didn’t win more medals at the Commonwealth Games 2022 than they did in the CWG 2010, it was still one of their greatest efforts. It is important to note that despite their two most successful sports—shooting and archery—not being included in CWG 2022, India earned a total of 61 medals (22 gold).
The number of various disciplines that India earned medals in at the Commonwealth Games 2022 was just as significant as the total number of medals they took home. The majority of India’s medals came from wrestling (12) and weightlifting (10), but the squad also achieved outstanding results in badminton, athletics, and table tennis, among other events.
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