Tokyo Olympics 2020: Meet the seven medallists as India end campaign on 48th place-Sports News , Firstpost

India won seven medals at Tokyo Olympics, the highest ever. AP

Tokyo Olympics, the most unusual Games of all time which took place amid the COVID-19 pandemic, came to an end on Sunday with a glittering closing ceremony in the Japanese capital.

India’s campaign got over a day before on Saturday with Neeraj Chopra scripting history as he became the first gold medalist from the country in an athletics event. The top prize in men’s javelin throw helped India finish the Tokyo Games with its best-ever tally of seven medals including one gold, two silver, and four bronze.

Overall, India finished 48th in the medals table. USA took the top spot with 113 medals, China (88) came second and hosts Japan (58) are third.

Here are the seven Indian medallists who made the nation proud at the sporting world’s greatest stage:

Neeraj Chopra (Javelin gold)

The wait is over! Indians for years yearned to see an athletic champion in the Olympics and Neeraj brought a sweet end to that wait with an 87.58m throw in the men’s javelin throw final which made him only the second individual gold medallist from India. Also, the first track and field athlete from independent India to win an Olympic medal.

THE THROW THAT WON #IND A #GOLD MEDAL #Tokyo2020 | #StrongerTogether | #UnitedByEmotion @Neeraj_chopra1 pic.twitter.com/F6xr6yFe8J

— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) August 7, 2021

A consistent performer over the years, Neeraj has won almost all the major competitions he took part in. In 2016, he won the yellow metal at the IAAF World U20 Championships with a world record throw of 86.48m. He also has the 2018 Commonwealth Games (CWG) and the Asian Games gold medals to his name.

Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifting silver)

The weightlifter from Manipur gave India a brilliant start to the Games as she clinched the silver medal on Day 1 of Tokyo 2020 in the 49kg category. This was the first time India won a medal on the opening day of the Olympics.

Mirabai is the second weightlifter from India to win a weightlifting medal after Karnam Malleswari won bronze at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

When a clean and jerk attempt of 115kg lifted an entire nation! ♥️

A very happy birthday to #Tokyo2020 silver medallist – Mirabai Chanu #BestOfTokyo | #UnitedByEmotion | #StrongerTogether | #IND | @mirabai_chanu pic.twitter.com/hhrt5mgFD6

— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) August 8, 2021

Mirabai lifted a total of 202kg (87kg+115kg) to clinch the silver medal. She is also the gold medallist from the 2017 World Championships.

Ravi Dahiya (Wrestling silver)

The Haryana wrestler won India silver in the men’s 57kg freestyle event after he lost in the final to Russian two-time defending world champion Zavur Uguev.

He is the second wrestling silver medallist for India at the Olympics after Sushil Kumar. And like Sushil, Ravi also trained at the Chhatrasal Stadium in New Delhi.

Ravi Kumar Dahiya – #IND‘s second wrestler to win an Olympic #silver medal 👏👏👏

Take a bow, champ! 🙌#Tokyo2020 | #UnitedByEmotion | #StrongerTogether | #Wrestling pic.twitter.com/Ggy5ILaeEv

— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) August 5, 2021

His best performance in the Games came in the semi-finals where he defeated Nurislam Sanayev of Kazakhstan by fall despite trailing 2-9 at one stage.

His top performance before the Games includes the bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships that helped him qualify for the Olympics. He also won gold at the Asian Championship in 2020 and 2021.

PV Sindhu (Badminton bronze)

Sindhu won the bronze in women’s singles by beating China’s He Bing Jiao in the medal match. Her hopes to win a gold ended with a defeat to Tai Tzu Ying in the semi-finals but Sindhu bounced back on the very next day to secure a medal with a 21-13, 21-15 win.

P – roud
V – ictory
For #TeamIndia!

Here’s @Pvsindhu1‘s #bronze medal-winning moment #Tokyo2020 #StrongerTogether #Badminton #Olympics pic.twitter.com/kZan01Gs3T

— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) August 1, 2021

With the bronze, Sindhu became only the second individual athlete from India to medal at two Olympics. She had won silver in the 2016 Rio Games. The 2019 world champion has in total five World Championships medals, a gold from the 2018 CWG and silver from the 2018 Asian Games.

Lovlina Borgohain (Boxing bronze)

Olympics debutant Borgohain became the third Indian boxer to win a medal at the Games by clinching bronze at Tokyo 2020. The Assam athlete’s Olympics gold hopes ended in the semi-finals of the women’s welterweight division where she lost to world No 1 Turkey’s Busenaz Surmeneli. In boxing, both losing semi-finalists are awarded bronze.

Admire it for as long as you please, Lovlina. It’s YOUR #bronze!

Women’s welterweight boxer Lovlina Borgohain picked up #IND’s third medal at #Tokyo2020 during the victory ceremony today. #StrongerTogether | #UnitedByEmotion | #Boxing | #BestOfTokyo pic.twitter.com/sOKjJlhP1u

— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) August 7, 2021

The highlight match for Lovlina at the Games was the quarter-finals against former world champion and fourth seed Chen Nien-Chin which the Indian won 4-1. Lovlina entered the bout with a 0-4 record against Nien-Chin but surprised the Taiwanese boxer with her attacking game.

She has also won two bronze medals at World Championships.

India men’s hockey team (Bronze)

The hockey jinx was finally broken at Tokyo 2020 as the men’s team captured its first Olympic medal in 41 years after beating Germany in the medal match. The last time India won a medal at Olympics was in 1980 when they clinched gold.

The famous campaign was full of memorable wins. India finished Pool A in the second spot and defeated Britain in the quarter-finals to reach the semi-finals for the first time in 49 years. The 1980 Games did not have semi-finals.

An UNFORGETTABLE moment!

The one that #IND has been hungry for over 41 long years. ❤️#Tokyo2020 | #UnitedByEmotion | #StrongerTogether | #BestOfTokyo | #Hockey | #Bronze pic.twitter.com/R530dyTjS1

— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) August 5, 2021

They lost to Belgium in the semis but came back strongly against traditional powerhouse Germany with a 5-4 win in the bronze medal contest. It was India’s 12th hockey medal at the Games. They have won eight gold medals.

Bajrang Punia (Wrestling bronze)

3️⃣ dominant takedowns in an impressive display! @BajrangPunia was in absolute control and wins the men’s 65kg #bronze by 8-0!#Tokyo2020 | #StrongerTogether | #UnitedByEmotion | #Wrestling | #BestOfTokyo pic.twitter.com/Ka3q5VSUka

— #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) August 7, 2021

Bajrang was one of the favourites for gold at Tokyo but a knee injury hampered his campaign. He bounced back valiantly to win the men’s 65kg freestyle event bronze by beating Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov 8-0.

One of the best wrestlers to come out of India, Bajrang is also the only Indian to win three medals at the World Wrestling Championships. He has silver and two bronze from World Championships.