Indian women have made history in the recent Olympics by bagging quite a few medals. In recent years, there has been a sharp spike in Indian ladies making the nation proud on the global stage, and this is encouraging more and more young women to take up sports. In the 2022 Tokyo Olympics, 49 of the athletes were female, and India was not far behind in this respect. There were 70 men and 54 women competing in this edition of the Olympics Games, and among them, 3 women have managed to win medals.
For a long time, the Olympics was a distant dream for women in the country. It was a largely male-dominated domain, but thankfully, with many women fighting for gender equality, things have gotten much better. Many Indian women are finding liberation in the field of sports, thus proving their doubters wrong.
While we should celebrate the recent winners, we also should not forget our history. In this article, we shall take a look at some of the women who have won medals for India at the Olympics over the years.
Karnam Malleswari was the first Indian woman to secure a medal at the Olympics. Hailing from Andhra Pradesh, this weightlifter created history when she won the Bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She lifted 110 Kilos in the snatch category and 130 Kilos in the clean and jerk category, thus lifting a total of 240 Kilos. Her feat won her a Bronze medal, and with this, she paved a path for other women to follow.
Malleswari started lifting weights at the tender age of 12 and after shifting to Delhi, the Sports Authority of India took notice of her. After winning a medal for India, she became famous all over the country and inspired thousands of women to join sports.
Saina Nehwal is one of the best badminton players the country has ever produced. In 2015, she attained the top ranking, thus creating history by becoming the first Indian woman to hold the spot. In the 2012 London Olympics, she won the Bronze medal in Women's singles and went on to achieve more feats in the following years.
In 2016, she received the Padma Bhushan for her contribution to Indian sports. Apart from the Olympics, she won the Silver and Bronze medals respectively in the 2015 and 2017 editions of the BWF World Championships. Sadly, her form has dipped in recent times and she has exited multiple tournaments in the first round itself. This is why she could not qualify for the 2022 Tokyo Olympics.
Mary Kom was born in Manipur, in a poor family. Thus, she had to struggle a lot to get to where she is today. She has won gold in the AIBA World Championship six times and managed to reach the top spot in the flyweight rankings. In London 2012, her road to glory was a sight to behold, as she fought past difficult opponents to clinch the Bronze medal.
Mary Kom has performed exceptionally well at the Commonwealth and Asian Games as well. Her story has inspired a movie, and today she is one of the top female boxers in the world. Apart from sports, she is a well-known advocate for wild animals.
P. V. Sindhu is one of the most celebrated sports icons in the country, and for good reason. The ace shuttler is number seven in the world at this moment, and her performance in recent times has been stellar. For the 2022 Olympics, sports fans around the nation had high hopes for Sindhu, and she did not disappoint them, winning the Bronze medal in the Women’s singles competition.
Hailing from Hyderabad, Sindhu grew up in a family of sports personalities, so it is no wonder that she grew up into the champion she is today. She started practicing at the age of eight, and today her name can be found in the Forbes list of female athletes.
Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav was the foremost Indian who achieved this feat. In the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, he won Bronze medal in wrestling.
P. V. Sindhu was the first Indian woman to win a silver medal in Olympics. She made history in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics by winning a silver medal in the Women’s singles competition.
This feat belongs to wrestler Sakshi Malik who won a Bronze medal in the Women’s freestyle 58 Kg for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Nilima Ghose became the first Indian woman to participate in the Olympics in 1952.
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