A look back at India's performance at Tokyo Olympics

India registered its best-ever performance at the Olympics by winning 7 medals including 1 gold.

India’s performance at the Tokyo Olympics marked a significant improvement from the Rio Games, with the country securing its best-ever medal tally of seven (one gold, two silver, and four bronze). This achievement placed India in the top 50 of the medal table.

However, the overall results were mixed. The shooting team, which had previously brought glory to India, failed to secure any medals for the second consecutive Olympics. This was particularly disappointing given that shooting provided India’s first individual gold medal in 2008 and two medals in 2012.

India’s medal journey in the Tokyo Olympics began on day one with Mirabai Chanu’s silver in women’s 49 kg weightlifting. A week later, PV Sindhu added a bronze in badminton, defeating China’s He Bingjiao.

A historic moment came when the Indian men’s hockey team ended a 41-year medal drought, clinching bronze in a thrilling 5-4 victory over Germany. P.R. Sreejesh’s crucial last-minute save sealed the win.

Wrestling contributed two medals: Ravi Dahiya’s silver in men’s 57 kg and Bajrang Punia’s bronze in men’s 65 kg. In boxing, Lovlina Borgohain became only the second Indian female boxer to win an Olympic medal.

The highlight of India’s campaign came on the second-to-last day when Neeraj Chopra won gold in javelin throw. This was India’s first-ever track and field medal and only its second individual gold in Olympic history.

Despite these successes, India missed several close medal opportunities. Deepak Punia lost his wrestling bronze match in the final seconds. Golfer Aditi Ashok finished fourth after a challenging final round. The women’s hockey team narrowly missed bronze, losing to Great Britain.

Other medal hopefuls like wrestler Vinesh Phogat, boxer Amit Panghal, and the archery mixed team underperformed. Six-time world champion boxer Mary Kom also suffered a close defeat.

India’s performance at the Tokyo Olympics marked a significant improvement from the Rio Games, with the country securing its best-ever medal tally of seven (one gold, two silver, and four bronze). This achievement placed India in the top 50 of the medal table.

However, the overall results were mixed. The shooting team, which had previously brought glory to India, failed to secure any medals for the second consecutive Olympics. This was particularly disappointing given that shooting provided India’s first individual gold medal in 2008 and two medals in 2012.

India’s medal journey in Tokyo began on day one with Mirabai Chanu’s silver in women’s 49 kg weightlifting. A week later, PV Sindhu added a bronze in badminton, defeating China’s He Bingjiao.

A historic moment came when the Indian men’s hockey team ended a 41-year medal drought, clinching bronze in a thrilling 5-4 victory over Germany. P.R. Sreejesh’s crucial last-minute save sealed the win.

Wrestling contributed two medals: Ravi Dahiya’s silver in men’s 57 kg and Bajrang Punia’s bronze in men’s 65 kg. In boxing, Lovlina Borgohain became only the second Indian female boxer to win an Olympic medal.

The highlight of India’s campaign came on the second-to-last day when Neeraj Chopra won gold in javelin throw. This was India’s first-ever track and field medal and only its second individual gold in Olympic history.

Despite these successes, India missed several close medal opportunities. Deepak Punia lost his wrestling bronze match in the final seconds. Golfer Aditi Ashok finished fourth after a challenging final round. The women’s hockey team narrowly missed bronze, losing to Great Britain.

Also read: Top five tennis players with most medals won at Olympic games

Other medal hopefuls like wrestler Vinesh Phogat, boxer Amit Panghal, and the archery mixed team underperformed. Six-time world champion boxer Mary Kom also suffered a close defeat.

List of medalists in Tokyo Olympics 2021

Medal	Name	Sport	Event
Gold	Neeraj Chopra	Athletics	Men’s Javelin Throw
Silver	Mirabai Chanu	Weightlifting	Women’s 49 kg
Silver	Ravi Kumar Dahiya	Wrestling	Men’s 57 kg
Bronze	PV Sindhu	Badminton	Women’s Singles
Bronze	Lovlina Borgohain	Boxing	Women’s 69 kg
Bronze	Bajrang Punia	Wrestling	Men’s 65 kg
Bronze	Men’s hockey team	Field hockey	Men

List of first by Indians

• Neeraj Chopra became the first Gold medalist in Athletics for India and the first player to win an athletics medal for Independent India
• Manika Batra became the first female player to reach Round 3 in table tennis
• Bhavani Devi became the first Indian to qualify in fencing at the Olympics and also won a match.
• The Indian men’s 4*400 m relay broke the Area record by clocking 3.00.25 in the heats

Top Sports for India at the Tokyo Olympics

Athletics

Even though India has won one medal in Athletics the medal itself is a huge thing. Winning an Athletics medal in the Olympics is considered great as Athletics is the pinnacle sport in the Olympics. India has never won an athletics medal after Independence. Apart from winning the gold medal we also had some great performances by our athletes. Avinash Sable finished 13 in heats by clocking a national record. The men’s 4*400 m relay team broke the Area record with a timing of 3.00.25 in heats. Kamalpreet Kaur also qualified for the final and finished 6th in women’s discus throw.

Wrestling

The only sports where we won two medals (1 silver and 1 bronze) courtesy of Ravi Dahiya and Bajrang Punia. Wrestling traditionally has been our strong sport and we have won a medal in wrestling in every edition since 2008. The trend continued in Tokyo too as India won 2 medals similar to the 2012 Olympics. Ravi Dahiya won Silver after losing to Uguev in the finals. Bajrang Punia who had some injury concerns before Tokyo also showed his determination to win bronze at the 65 kg category.

Top Performer for India at the Olympics

Neeraj Chopra

Neeraj Chopra became India’s biggest star at the Tokyo Olympics. He did something no Indian had ever done before – he won a gold medal in a track and field event. This was a big deal for India.

People who know a lot about sports thought Chopra’s win was really impressive. Before the games, many Indians hoped Chopra could win India’s first-ever medal in athletics. He didn’t let them down.

On August 7, 2021, Chopra’s performance in the javelin throw final secured India’s place atop the Olympic podium. His victory meant that after more than a decade, the Indian national anthem was played at the Olympic Games, marking a momentous occasion for the country.

Disappointments

Despite having the best outing in Tokyo, India still underperformed at the Olympics. There were a lot of high expectations from the shooting contingent, especially after the good World Cup campaign. However, for the second successive time, the shooters faltered at the big stage.

Vinesh Phogat who got injured in Rio also disappointed as she failed to win a medal at the Olympics once again. The draw was also in Vinesh’s favour and she could have reached the final but unfortunately, she lost in the QF. Even Deepak Punia was disappointing in the bronze medal match as he was leading till the end and lost in the last 10 seconds.

Archery again continued to be disappointing as India failed to win a single medal yet another time. The best hopes were from the team events but after the poor ranking round of our male athlete, it was also shattered. India faced Korea in the QF and it was the end of our road there. Even Atanu Das couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity after defeating the Korean archer in R32 he lost to the Japanese in R16.

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