India’s medal hopes at Tokyo Olympics (Rucheek Anilprakash Nair)

This year, the Olympics is being held in Tokyo, Japan, from July 23 to August 8, under the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic, but that has not dampened the dreams of athletes and sportspersons to make it big on the world’s biggest sporting event. India too is hoping to make its mark in a clutch of events, ranging from athletics to games, and is sending a contingent of 228 athletes to the Olympics.

India’s star badminton player P. V. Sindhu is a big medal hopeful this year, so is the men’s 4x400m relay team, M. P. Jabir in the men’s 400 metres hurdles, Dutee Chand in the women’s 100 and 200 metres and Annu Rani in women’s javelin throw, all of who made it to the Olympics on the strength of their world ranking. So far, ace shooter Abhinav Bindra is the only Indian to get an individual gold medal for India in the Olympic arena, which he won in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In the track and field events, 15 Indian athletes across individual events and two relay teams have made the cut for Tokyo 2021. Some of them include Avinash Sable (men’s 3000 metres steeplechase), Tajinderpal Singh Toor (men’s shot put), Neeraj Chopra and Shivpal Singh (men’s javelin throw), M. Sreeshankar (men’s long jump), Kamalpreet Kaur and Seema Punia (women’s discus throw), race walkers K.T. Irfan, Sandeep Kumar and Rahul Rohila (men), and Bhawna Jat and Priyanka Goswami (women). India has never won a medal at the track and field events in the Olympic Games, with Milkha Singh (400 metres, Rome Olympics, 1960) and PT Usha (400 metres hurdles, Los Angeles Olympics, 1984) coming the closest.

The men’s 4x400m relay team was placed 13th out of 16 to compete in Tokyo, based on the timing of 3:01.89 clocked during the National Inter-State Championships earlier this year. Dutee came 41st in 100 meters international rankings, and 50th in the 200m event, out of the list of 56 athletes. Rani stood at the 18th position (out of 32 participants) and Jabir at 32nd place (out of 40 participants). The closest miss was that of the women’s 4x400m relay team which missed out by a whisker as it was placed at 17th spot, while 16 were to get the Olympic slots.

Rani had bettered her own national record with a throw of 63.24 metres during the Federation Cup in March before a performance of 62.83 metres in the National Inter-State Championships later. Jabir had run a personal best of 49.78 seconds during the National Inter-State Championships. Long jumper M Sreeshankar had made it to the Olympics with a national record jump of 8.26 metres during the Federation Cup in March while shot putter Toor booked a Games’ berth with another national record mark of 21.49 metres during the Indian Grand Prix 4.

India's hockey team is the most successful team ever in the Olympics, having won eight gold medals the games since 1928 until 1980. This year, the 16-member squad will be led by Manpreet Singh, a third-time Olympian. Indian shooters are also expected to find their mark in the Olympics, two notable names being Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary. In wrestling, another event where India had won medals earlier, some notable names are Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Deepak Punia and Ravi Kumar. In badminton, all four players – PV Sindhu, B Sai Praneeth and the doubles' duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty – have a solid chance of winning medals at the Tokyo Olympics, according to their coach Pullela Gopichand.

Each of the participants on the world’s biggest sporting stage would want to grab an Olympic medal, the highest honour a sportsperson is capable of achieving. As we inch closer to the grandest sporting extravaganza, the temperatures are rising. Spectators are surely in for a big treat at the Tokyo Olympics.

Box 

*DID YOU KNOW?*

*# What do the 5 Olympic rings symbolise?*

The flag has a white background with 5 interlaced rings in the centre. These 5 rings in five different colours represent the 5 continents of the world, united by Olympism.

Africa- Yellow

Americas-Red

Asia-green

Europe-black

Oceania-blue

*# Design of the Olympic rings*

In 1913, Pierre de Coubertin designed one of the world's most famous symbols.

*# Greatest Olympian of all time*

Swimmer Michael Phelps is regarded as the unchallenged Olympian of all time, winning a total of 28 medals, including 23 gold.

*# Gold medal winner from India*

Abhinav Bindra is the only Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympics in the year 2008, in the 10 metre air-rifle event.

*# India’s first individual medal*

KD Jadhav was the first Indian to win an Olympic medal (bronze) in an individual sport (wrestling) at the Helsinki Olympics, 1952.