Since its beginning in 1896, Olympic Games are consistently creating history each and every year. Be it the cancellation of Games for the first time in 1916 or the Indian hockey Team winning bronze at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 after 41 years. It has never failed to impress us with the inspirational stories that have been created during its long journey till today. We all know, how Usain bolt became the fastest man on Earth after being eliminated in the first round of the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.
India has also played a major role in entertaining us with its excellent and sometimes inspirational performance at the Olympic Games. Till now it has won 35 medals. We had players like Major Dhyan Chand, P.T.Usha to make us feel that we are also capable of making it to the world stage. Now, here are some of the sportspersons who represented India at the Olympics in different category of sports and their present whereabouts.
Leander Paes
He made a big mark in the Atlanta Olympic Games, 1996. He was able to win bronze for India in Tennis. It was the only medal for our country in that year and also the only one after a gap of 16 years.
After that he did win many grand slams for our country and also made a match winning pairing with Mahesh Bhupathi. The pair was together nick named as named as Indian Express. He has already conquered French Open, U.S. Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon Championships. He has also been honoured with awards such as Arjuna award for Lawn Tennis,2014, Padma Bhushan,2014 and Padma Shri, 2001.
Right now, he is serving as the sports ambassador of Haryana.
Karnam Malleshwari
She was the first woman for India to win a medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She achieved the feat while competing in the 54 kg category of Weightlifting.
She has won many awards like Padma Shri in 1999 and Arjuna Award for Weightlifting in 1994.
After her accomplishment, she became the vice- chancellor of the Delhi Sports University. She is also actively participating in promoting the youth of our country to pick up sports as a career.
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore
He won the silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games in Men’s Double Trap in Shooting. He was the first shooter from India to win a medal at the Olympics.
He has won Padma Shri in 2005, Arjuna Award in 2003 and Major Dhyan Chand Award in 2004.
He also took active part in politics after taking retirement from Indian Army in 2013. He served as MP in 2014 Lok Sabha Elections from Jaipur Rural Constituency.Recently, he also served as Minister of State (I/C) for Information & Broadcasting for a short period from 2018.
Abhinav Bindra
He won the gold medal for India in 10m Rifle Shooting at 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He was the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympics.
He was honoured with awards such as Padma Bhushan in 2009, and Arjuna Award for Shooting in 2000.
He also has an autobiography which shows his hard work to enter the elite club of gold winners in the history of Olympics and also shows some light on his personal life. The name of the book is “A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold”. It was published in 2011.
Apart from shooting, he is also a businessman. He has a company named Abhinav Futuristics Pvt Ltd which has prime focus on implementing technology in the field of sports. He is also trying to motivate and help more athletes to play for our country in the future.
Vijender Singh
He made our country proud by winning the bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing in Boxing. Honour was bestowed upon him in the form of Padma Shri in 2010 and Arjuna Award in 2006.
He later turned to professional boxing with his first fight in 2015. For this reason, his hope of participating in the 2016 Olympics was thrashed.
He also tried his hand in politics by contesting Lok Sabha election from South Delhi in 2019, but lost.
Gagan Narang
He has won bronze medal for India at 2012 London Olympics in 10m Rifle Shooting.
He was given Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2011.
He is now preparing to make Hyderabad as a shooting hub. Gagan Narang Academy which is in Hyderabad, is his academy where he trains people in shooting. His academy has also been successful in sending 6 trainees to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Vijay Kumar
He achieved the feat of winning silver medal in 2012 Olympics in 25m Pistol Shooting.
He was also awarded Padma Shri in 2013 and Arjuna Award for Shooting in 2006.
He is currently posted as DSP in Himachal Pradesh.
Yogeshwar Dutt
He won the bronze medal in 2012 Olympics in 60 kg category of Wrestling.
He has also won the Arjuna Award for Wrestling in 2009 and Padma Shri in 2013.
He is currently working to create more world class athletes from India.
Saina Nehwal
She has won the bronze medal in 2012 in London Olympics in Badminton.
She has been honoured with awards such as Padma Shri in 2010, Padma Bhushan in 2016, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2010 and Arjuna Award for Badminton in 2009.
She has also written an autobiography named “Playing to Win” which was published in 2013.
Currently, she is pursuing her dreams of representing India at various International Level tournaments.
Mary Kom
She is one of the best boxers in the world. She has already won 6 World championships. She has also been able to win bronze medal for India at the 2012 London Olympics.
She was able to win Padma Shri in 2006, Padma Bhushan in 2013, Arjuna Award in 2003 and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 2009.
She also has a book on her name called “Unbreakable” which explains about her efforts to become a great boxer and make India proud at different tournaments especially Olympics. It was published in 2013.
Presently, she is continuing her efforts to win more glorious tournaments for India.
Sakshi Malik
She has won the bronze medal for India at 2016 Rio Olympics in 58kg category of Wrestling.
She has won the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2016 and Padma Shri in 2017.
Currently, she is working for the Indian Railways.
PV Sindhu
She got her deserved honour at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where se represented India in Badminton and secured her second spot. She also succeeded in securing another silver of her career in Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
She has also already secured her place in history books by winning the Arjuna Award in 2013, Padma Shri in 2015, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2016 and Padma Bhushan in 2020.
She also has a book named “Shuttling to the Top: The Story of P.V. Sindhu” to her name. It is her biography written by Krishnaswamy V and it was published in 2020.
These are some of the finest, whom we have seen and will ever see in the near future at the Olympics. But there are a few who missed the glory at the Olympics by a very close margin, but are equally capable of being called one of the best in the world. Some of them are Milkha Singh at 1960 Rome Olympics (0.1 second), P.T. Usha at 1984 Los Angeles Olympics (one-hundredth of a second), Joydeep Karmakar at 2012 London Olympics, Dipa Karmakar at 2016 Rio Olympics, and Abhinav Bindra at 2016 Rio Olympics. These can be called the special players, who are still in our heart and will always be there for the rest of our lives. The only thing which we can hope right now is that the players who are aiming for the 2024 Paris Olympics are able to fulfil their as well as our dreams because………
“Winning doesn’t always mean being first. Winning means you’re doing better than you’ve ever done before.” – Bonnie Blair, American speed skater and five-time gold medalist
By: Raunak Jha
