By Aarya Krishnan
Tokyo, Aug 8: The XXXII Tokyo Olympics, which took place from July 23 to August 8, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan, came to an end with a closing ceremony that marked the official end of the quadrennial event. There were concerns about the global event’s organization at one point because of the pandemic, but the games went on without a hitch. The lack of spectators in the stadiums made the Tokyo edition unlike any other Olympic event. The Tokyo Olympics handed over the baton to Paris, hoping for a spectator filled, upbeat show in 2024.
Indian Participation: India sent its largest-ever contingent to Tokyo, with 126 athletes representing 18 sports. Indian athletes competed in a total of 69 events, the most ever for the country. The Indian contingent was led by wrestler Bajrang Punia. He marched through the ceremony to promote the theme “Worlds We Share”. The Olympics in Tokyo were the most successful for Indian athletes. India won seven medals — one gold, two silver, and four bronze which is one more than what we won in the 2012 London Games, when we won six. In fact, this is only the second time in Indian history that we have won a gold at the Olympics in an individual capacity (Abhinav Bindra got us the first one at the 2008 Olympics for 10-meter air rifle shooting).
Neeraj Chopra (Men’s Javelin Throw), Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifting: Women’s 49kg), Ravi Kumar Dahiya (Wrestling: Men’s 57kg freestyle), Lovlina Borgohain (Boxing: Women’s Welterweight), PV Sindhu (Badminton: Women’s singles), Bajrang Punia (Wrestling: Men’s 65kg freestyle), and the Men’s Hockey Team have done India proud by bringing home medals this season.
Notable Firsts: There were several notable firsts in terms of participation in the Tokyo Olympics this time. For the first time in its history, an Indian fencer Bhavani Devi qualified for the Olympic Games and became the first Indian fencing player to win an Olympic match. Nethra Kumanan became India’s first female sailor to qualify for an Olympic Games. By achieving the ‘A’ Qualification Standard in Swimming, Sajan Prakash and Srihari Nataraj became the first Indian swimmers to qualify for the Olympics games.
