Sunday marked the end of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 which took place amidst the pandemic after many hurdles. At the closing ceremony, the International Olympic Committee chief, Thomas Bach said, “Now I have to mark the end of this most challenging Olympic journey to Tokyo: I declare the Games of the 32nd Olympiad closed”. The Olympic flag was then handed over to the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, for the 2024 Games.
This year’s Olympics was indeed different due to multiple reasons like the pandemic, raised awareness about mental health with Simone Biles withdrawing from the games, stadiums running empty, and much more. It was especially unique for India as the country recorded the best ever performance at the Olympics for the first time by winning a total of 7 medals as compared to the 6 medals it won at the 2012 London Games.
Until the next Olympic games which are scheduled to be held in 2024, India has one gold, two silver and four bronze medals in its basket. With Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra winning a gold medal, Olympics ended with a bang for India. Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu was the first Indian to win a medal at Tokyo Olympics 2020, a silver in the women’s 49kg category.
Ace shuttler PV Sindhu then won a bronze medal beating China’s He Bing Jiao in badminton women’s singles. Winning this bronze medal also made her the first Indian woman to win two individual medals at the Olympics.
Third, in line to win was boxer Lovlina Borgohain who won a bronze medal in the women’s welterweight division. She is now the third Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal, behind Vijender Singh and MC Mary Kom.
The Indian men’s hockey team won a bronze medal beating Germany qualifying for the semi-finals before losing to Belgium. With this, the team brought home the Olympic medal after 41 years. Indian men’s hockey won a medal last in 1980.
Wrestler Ravi Dahiya then won a silver medal in men’s freestyle 57kg defeating Kazakhstan’s Nurislam Sanayev.
The sixth medal, a bronze, was then won by freestyle wrestler Bajrang Punia on Saturday defeating Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov. The last medal for India, at the Olympics, was won by Neeraj Chopra who clinched a gold medal in men’s javelin throw with a best attempt of 87.58, making the Tokyo Olympics 2020 a memory for all Indians to cherish forever.
While India won 7 medals in all, US won 113 medals, China 88, Japan 58, Britain 65 and ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) 71, Australia 46, Netherlands 36, France 33, Germany 37, and Italy 40.
