Tokyo Olympic 2020

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: India’s Status

India sent a 228-strong contingent to Tokyo Olympics, including 119 athletes.

•       About 22 athletes and six officials from the India are to attend the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics 2021 at the National Stadium.

Highlights

•       Of 119 athletes, 67 were male and 52 female participants.

•       119 athletes from 22 states represented 130 crore Indians in 18 sport disciplines.

•       India fought for 85 medal events.

•       It was the largest ever contingent of athletes from India at Olympics.

•       The first contingent for Tokyo left on July 17 comprising of 90 athletes and officials.

About the Host

Tokyo has been selected as host city. It was selected during 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2013. Japan hosted Olympic Games for the second time. First Olympic that Tokyo hosted was in 1964. Tokyo is the first city in Asia to host an Olympics twice. Thus, overall, 2020 games will be the fourth Olympic Games to be held in Japan.

Details of medals and winners from India at Tokyo Olympic 2020

weightlifter Mirabai Chanu opened India’s medal account at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with a silver in the women’s 49kg – her first medal at the Olympics.

It was India’s second weightlifting Olympic medal, after Karnam Malleswari’s bronze at Sydney 2000.

Here are the other Indian Olympic medalists’ at Tokyo 2020.

Lovlina Borgohain – Bronze medal – women’s welterweight (64-69kg)

On her Games debut, Lovlina Borgohain won a bronze medal at Tokyo 2020 after losing in the semi-finals to top seed Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey in the women’s 69kg.

Lovlina Borgohain had beaten Chinese Taipei’s Nien-Chin Chen in the quarter-finals to assure herself of a medal.

PV Sindhu – Bronze medal – women’s singles badminton

Badminton queen PV Sindhu became the first Indian woman and only the second Indian athlete – after Sushil Kumar – to win two individual Olympic medals.

PV Sindhu beat China’s He Bing Jiao 21-13, 21-15 to win the bronze medal in the women’s singles.

It is India’s third confirmed medal of Tokyo 2020 – one more than their haul at Rio 2016.

Ravi Kumar Dahiya

Ravi Kumar Dahiya – Silver medal – men’s 57kg freestyle wrestling

Another Olympic debutant and another medal for India.

The 23-year-old Ravi Kumar Dahiya lost to twice world champion Zavur Uguev of ROC in the final of the men’s 57kg freestyle wrestling, thus ending up with a silver medal.

It was India’s ninth silver medal in Olympic history and a second silver medal in wrestling after Sushil Kumar at London 2012.

Ravi Kumar Dahiya had assured himself of an Olympic medal when he beat Nurislam Sanayev of Kazakhstan in the semis. He was trailing 2-9 at one stage before winning a couple of points and then pinning Sanayev to make a stirring comeback and earn the medal.

Indian hockey team

Indian hockey team – Bronze medal – men’s hockey

After a 41-year wait, the Indian men’s hockey team finally have an Olympic medal since the gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

After being 3-1 down at one point, India made a big comeback to beat Germany 5-4 and claim the bronze medal.

It is their third Olympic bronze medal – after the 1968 and 1972 Games – and their 12th Olympic medal overall. It is India’s fifth medal at Tokyo 2020.

Bajrang Punia

Bajrang Punia – Bronze medal – men’s 65kg wrestling

Wrestler Bajrang Punia became the third Indian debutant to win a medal at Tokyo 2020.

Two-time Asian champion Bajrang Punia beat Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov, a World Championships silver-medallist, in the men’s 65kg freestyle wrestling playoff to claim the bronze medal.

It is India’s sixth medal of the Tokyo Olympics – equaling their best-ever haul at a single edition of the Olympics.

Neeraj Chopra

Neeraj Chopra – Gold medal – men’s javelin throw

Neeraj Chopra became India’s second individual Olympic champion – after Abhinav Bindra – with his men’s javelin throw gold at Tokyo 2020. It was India’s first track-and-field medal at any Olympic Games.

The medal was India’s seventh at Tokyo 2020 – making it their best-ever haul at a single edition of the Olympics.

Neeraj Chopra threw 87.58m to clinch the gold medal.

Why in news

On August 7, 2021, Neeraj Chopra of Haryana won the gold medal in the javelin throw event at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Key Points

• Neeraj Chopra took the country’s first Tokyo Olympics gold medal in the individual category and finished first in the table with a javelin throw of 87.58 m in his second attempt.
• Neeraj is a native village of ‘Khandara’ in Panipat district of Haryana.
• Neeraj has been serving in the Indian Army since 2016 and is currently serving as a Subedar in the Rajputana Rifles Unit.
• Neeraj Chopra was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2018.
• Neeraj has won India’s 10th Olympic gold medal, it is worth mentioning that 8 gold medals were won by the men’s hockey team and 1 gold medal was won by shooter Abhinav Bindra (1st individual gold medal).

Gold medals in other events of Neeraj so far:

i.       2018 Jakarta, Asian Games

ii.      2018 Gold Coast, Commonwealth Games

iii.     2017 Bhubaneswar, Asian Championships

iv.     2016 Guwahati/Shillong, South Asian Games

Neeraj Chopra became only the second Indian individual Olympic champion. PV Sindhu won her second Olympic medal while the men’s hockey team won an Olympic medal after 41 year.