Indian women at the Olympics

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Mary Kom (in red) vs Nicola Adams at the London 2012 Summer Olympics

Several Indian women have participated in the Olympics over the years. Seven women from India have won an Olympic medal so far. They are Karnam Malleswari, Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal, P. V. Sindhu (twice), Sakshi Malik, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and Lovlina Borgohain.

The first Indian woman to ever win an Olympic medal was Karnam Malleswari, who won a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the Women's 69 kg category in Weightlifting.[1]

In the 2012 London Olympics, women's boxing was featured as a sport for the first time. India was represented by five-time world champion Mary Kom who was the only Indian to qualify for the event.[2] However, she lost to Nicola Adams of the UK in the semi-final.[3] She thus earned herself an Olympic bronze medal.[4][5][6] Saina Nehwal became the first Indian to win a medal in Badminton at the Olympics,[7] by winning the bronze medal at the London Olympics 2012 on 4 August 2012.[8] Geeta Phogat became the first ever Indian woman to qualify for the women's 55 kg wrestling in the London Olympics 2012. Women's wrestling was announced in 2004.[9]

Olympics bronze medalist Mary Kom with young sportsperson

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, P. V. Sindhu became the first ever Indian woman to win a silver medal at the Olympics. She reached the Women's singles badminton final, which she lost to Carolina Marín of Spain on 19 August 2016.[10] She also became the youngest Indian to win an Olympic medal. At the same Olympics, Sakshi Malik became the first Indian woman to win a medal in Wrestling. She won the bronze medal in Women's 58 kg freestyle wrestling. This was the first Olympics for India where all the medallists (2) were women.[11]

P. V. Sindhu, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and Lovlina Borgohain made India proud by winning medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[12] Saikhom Mirabai Chanu won the silver medal on the very first day of the Tokyo Olympics 2020, where she achieved the second position after the total count of both Snatch and Clean & Jerk. Her highest lift at Snatch was 87 kg and at Clean & Jerk, she was able to lift 115 kg, making her overall score 202 kg.[13] P. V. Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. Following up on her silver medal in Rio 2016, she secured the bronze medal in Tokyo 2020 by defeating China's He Bingjiao 21–13, 21–15 in two straight games.[14][15] Lovlina Borgohain won her first Olympic medal in Women's welterweight boxing, where she assured herself a medal after she defeated Taiwan's Chen Nien-Chin in the quarterfinals. However, in the semifinals, she lost to Busenaz Sürmeneli of Turkey, earning herself the bronze medal.[16]

List of medalists[edit]

Medal Name/Team Games Sport Event Date
Bronze Bronze Karnam Malleswari 2000 Sydney Weightlifting Weightlifting Women's 69 kg 19 September 2000
Bronze Bronze Saina Nehwal 2012 London Badminton Badminton Women's singles 4 August 2012
Bronze Bronze Mary Kom 2012 London Boxing Boxing Women's flyweight 8 August 2012
Silver Silver P. V. Sindhu 2016 Rio de Janeiro Badminton Badminton Women's singles 19 August 2016
Bronze Bronze Sakshi Malik 2016 Rio de Janeiro Wrestling Wrestling Women's freestyle 58 kg 17 August 2016
Silver Silver Saikhom Mirabai Chanu 2020 Tokyo Weightlifting Weightlifting Women's 49 kg 24 July 2021
Bronze Bronze P. V. Sindhu 2020 Tokyo Badminton Badminton Women's singles 1 August 2021
Bronze Bronze Lovlina Borgohain 2020 Tokyo Boxing Boxing Women's welterweight 4 August 2021

References[edit]

  1. ^ Time (27 December 2000). "'I Did What I Could For My Country'". Archived from the original on 18 November 2011.
  2. ^ Times of India (18 May 2012). "Mary Kom qualifies for London Olympics". Times of India. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  3. ^ Bakowski, Gregg (8 August 2012). "Nicola Adams beats Mary Kom to reach 51kg Olympic final". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  4. ^ Mary Kom attempts to create history in Olympics boxing by reaching final - Economic Times
  5. ^ "Sorry I couldn't win Gold or Silver: Mary Kom after winning Bronze | Boxing | NDTVSports.com". Archived from the original on 10 June 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  6. ^ "Mary Kom didn't play her natural game, say pugilists". The Times of India. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  7. ^ "Saina first Indian shuttler to win Olympic medal". Archived from the original on 6 August 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  8. ^ "'Miracle win': Saina Nehwal wins bronze medal after opponent pulls out". 4 August 2012.
  9. ^ "Geeta becomes first Indian women wrestler to make Olympic cut". The Times of India.
  10. ^ "PV Sindhu loses to World No 1 Carolina Marin, claims Olympic silver - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  11. ^ "Rohtak Zen in Rio zone, Sakshi Malik brings wrestling bronze from Olympics". The Indian Express. 19 August 2016. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  12. ^ "India in tokyo olympics;Olympics.com". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  13. ^ "Saikom Mirabai Chanu;Olympics.com". Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  14. ^ "PV sindhu becomes two time Olympic medalist: Olympics.com". Archived from the original on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  15. ^ "PV sindhu wins bronze at Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics: Olympics.com". Archived from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  16. ^ "lovlina borgohain puts boromukhia on olympic map". 31 July 2021. Archived from the original on 10 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
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