Important Facts From Tokyo Olympics 2020| India’s best-ever performance at Olympics

India’s Performance At Tokyo Olympics

With seven medals, including one Gold, two Silvers and four Bronze medals, this edition was India’s best in terms of the medal tally. The previous best medal haul came at the 2012 London Olympics when India won two Silvers and four Bronze medals.

Tokyo Olympics 2020 medal winners for India

Tokyo Olympics 2020 medal table

The Tokyo Olympics also witnessed many “firsts” for India at the Summer Olympics. Here is a look at few such instances:

• Neeraj Chopra won India’s first Gold medalist in athletics.
  • He also became only the second individual Gold medalist for the country at the Summer Olympics. Abhinav Bindra had won the country’s first individual Gold after winning the 10m Air Rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
  • Incidentally at the Paris Games in 1900, Norman Pritchard won two athletics silvers for India but back then the country was a dominion of Britain.
• By winning the Bronze in the women’s singles event, shuttler PV Sindhu became India’s first woman to win two individual medals at the Olympic Games and to win medals in back-to-back editions.
  • She had won the Silver at the 2016 Games held at Rio. She also became the first Indian player to win the World Badminton Championship and two Olympic medals across genders. She had won the World Championship in 2019.
• Mirabai Chanu’s Silver in Weightlifting in the 49kg category, India’s first medal at the Tokyo Olympics, was the first Silver medal for an Indian in Weightlifting in the Olympics.
  • It was also the country’s second medal in Weightlifting.
  • Karnam Malleswari had bagged the Bronze in the event in the 69kg category at the Sydney Games in 2000.
• The Indian Women’s Hockey team (fourth place) made history by reaching their first-ever semi-final at the Olympic Games.
  • India had finished 12th at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
• Aditi Ashok finished fourth in Golf. The 23-year old, who is ranked 200th in the world, stood second for most of the competition.
  • However, she missed a medal by just one shot on the final day. She had also featured at the 2016 Rio Olympics and had stood 41st.
• Rowers Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh became the first Indian double sculls pair to reach the semi-finals at the Olympics.
  • They finished 11th in the event, which is the best ever result for the country at the Olympic Games.
  • India’s previous best at the event was the 18th place finish at the London Games in 2012.
• Bhavani Devi became the first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympic Games.
  • She represented the country in the Women’s Sabre Individual event. 
  • She lost to fourth-seeded Manon Brunet of France in the second round at the Tokyo Olympics.
• After Sushil Kumar, Bajrang is the first Indian wrestler to win medals in both Olympics and the World championships.
  • Bajrang was the sixth Indian wrestler ever to claim an Olympic medal.

Facts for Exams

• Boxer M.C. Mary Kom and men’s hockey team skipper Manpreet Singh will be flagbearers for India at the opening ceremony of Tokyo Olympics, scheduled to get underway on July 23 .
• Wrestler Bajrang Punia will be the flagbearer at the closing ceremony on August 8.
• Upcoming Olympics game vanue :
  • 2022: Beijing (Winter)
  • 2024: Paris (Summer)
  • 2026: Milan Cortina (Winter)
  • 2028: Los Angeles (Summer)
  • 2032: Brisbane (Summer)

India at the Olympics

• India first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, with a lone athlete (Norman Pritchard) winning two medals – both silver – in athletics and became the first Asian nation to win an Olympic medal.
• The nation first sent a team to the Summer Olympic Games in 1920 and has participated in every Summer Games since then. India has also competed at several Winter Olympic Games beginning in 1964.
• Indian athletes have won 35 medals, all at the Summer Games. For a period of time, India national field hockey team was dominant in Olympic competition, winning eleven medals in twelve Olympics between 1928 and 1980. The run included 8 gold medals in total and six successive gold medals from 1928–1956.
• In the 2000 Sydney Olympics two-time World Championship gold medalist Karnam Malleswari won a bronze medal in the Women’s 69 kg weightlifting category. It was the first-ever Olympic medal won by an Indian woman.
• At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Abhinav Bindra won gold in the Men’s 10 metre air rifle event becoming the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games. 
• Vijender Singh got the country’s first medal in boxing with his bronze medal in Middleweight category.
• Wrestler Sushil Kumar became the first Indian with multiple individual Olympic medals (bronze at the 2008 Summer Olympics and silver at the 2012 Summer Olympics) since independence.
• Saina Nehwal won a bronze medal in badminton in Women’s singles getting the country’s first Olympic medal in badminton. Pugilist Mary Kom became the first Indian woman to win a medal in boxing with her bronze medal in Women’s flyweight division.
• Sakshi Malik became the first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal with her bronze medal in Women’s freestyle 58 kg category.
• Shuttler P. V. Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win a silver medal in Olympics and also the youngest Indian Olympic medalist. First Indian woman to win two individual Olympic medals.

Source : The Hindu, Wikipedia

Also refer :

• Download the pdf of Important MCQs From the History Of Ancient India
• List Of Important Inscriptions In India