The 2020 Summer Olympics, officially recognized as the Games of the XXXII Olympiad and rebranded as Tokyo 2020, is an ongoing global multi-sport event taking place in Tokyo Japan with a schedule from July 23 to August 8, 2021, with some preliminary promptings being started on July 21.
New categories like 3×3 basketball, freestyle BMX, and mixed events in a variety of sports have been introduced at the 2020 Games. The return of Madison cycling, softball, and baseball are further additions. Other activities like karate, sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding have also made their Olympic debut under the regulation of the new IOC regulations. The new protocol has allowed the host organization committee to introduce new sports to the Olympic calendar to supplement the permanent core activities.
The Olympics have been arranged under the Covid-19 safety procedures. After passing the Covid-19 tests, all of the athletes were eligible to compete in the Tokyo Olympics.
Tokyo Olympics 2021 And India
For the previous three editions of the Summer Olympics, India made a record of sending a huge contingent. India’s Olympic team for Tokyo 2020 consists of 127 athletes from 18 sports, plus two alternate players and one reserve goalkeeper from the men’s and women’s hockey teams, respectively. Let’s have a look into the top 10 profiles-
- Deepika Kumari: An Indian expert archeress, currently outranked the World No. 1. In the 2020 Summer Olympics, she plays in the event of archery.
- PV Sindhu: An Indian adept badminton player who has accomplished medals at multiple tournaments such as the Olympics and on the BWF round including a gold at the 2019 World Championships.
- Mary Kom: Five-time World Amateur Boxing champion, she is one of the most inspirational champions of India. She is the only lady boxer to have conquered a medal in all six world championships. She became the first Indian lady prizefighter to get a Gold Medal in the Asian Games in 2014 in Incheon, South Korea.
- Bhavani Devi: The first Indian fencer to qualify for the Olympics.
- Fouad Mirza: The first Indian equestrian to qualify for the Games in 20 years.
- Pranati Nayak: The second Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics.
- Sania Mirza: With selection for Tokyo 2020 via her preserved ranking, she will partner Ankita Raina in the women’s counterparts.
- Mirabai Chanu: India’s only representative in weightlifting at Tokyo 2020. Mirabai Chanu stood second in the world, is participating in the women’s 49kg weight category.
- Vinesh Phogat: An Indian wrestler who descends from a wrestling family, with cousins Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari and won Commonwealth Games medals is participating internationally.
- Bajrang Punia: The only Indian wrestler to win three medals at the World Wrestling Championships is a freestyle Indian wrestler who competes in the 65 kg weight category.
Tokyo Olympics 2020 Highlights: Mirabai Chanu Conquers India’s 1st Silver Medal.
Mirabai Chanu became the first Indian woman to earn a medal in the Tokyo Olympics, and the first Indian woman to win a silver medal in weightlifting. Mirabai also made history by being the first Indian athlete to win a medal on the first day of an Olympics.
The 26-year-old from Imphal took silver in the women’s 49kg event, just losing out to China’s Zhihui Hou for gold. Mirabai, on the other hand, was ecstatic that her five years of hard work had paid off, and she was now an Olympic medalist. With an Olympic gold around her neck, India’s top weightlifter said on Saturday that she can now relax at home without worrying about training after only making five trips to her hometown of Manipur in the previous five years.
“I have just been home for five days in the past five years. Now I will go with this medal” said Chanu.
Success Story- Journey To Victory Through Grappling With Failures
Mirabai Chanu, a native of Manipur’s capital Imphal, made her mark in international events when she won silver in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow at the age of 20. However, two years later, at the Rio Olympics, she was disappointed when she failed to lift the weight in any of her three tries in the clean and jerk round, becoming one of just two lifters to finish the event. But Mirabai’s grief in Rio and the subsequent postponement of the Olympics did not stop her from achieving her objective, which she did on July 24.
“I was very sad after failing in the Rio Olympics. Then I won the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. After that, I thought of keeping an Olympic ring with me. That is when I dreamt of winning an Olympic medal and that’s when I made this earring and kept it with me“.
Mirabai Chanu, a superstar weightlifter, is on cloud nine after finally putting the nightmares of Rio behind her by winning a historic silver medal in the current Tokyo 2020 Olympics. She was speechless when she addressed India on Saturday after earning India’s first medal at the current Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Chanu, who was competing in her second Olympics, won silver in the 49kg division. It was India’s second Olympic medal in the event, following Karnam Malleswari’s bronze in the Sydney Games 21 years previously. “This silver medal is the result of all the sacrifices I have made in my life,” Mirabai stated.
Mirabai also mentioned that she experienced some stomach ache throughout the event, but that’s beside the point now. To beat Karnam Malleswari’s bronze, she lifted a total of 202kg (87kg+115kg). She won a silver medal in the 49kg division to end India’s 21-year quest for an Olympic weightlifting medal on Saturday, breaking the country’s 21-year drought.
