India At Tokyo Olympics: An Analysis

The 2020 Summer Olympic Games were held in Tokyo, Japan from 23 July to 8 August 2021. The event was originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, but due to the Covid pandemic it was postponed to 2021. The event was an unprecedented demonstration of unity and solidarity as the world came together for the first time following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This sense of solidarity was critical to the success of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

• At the Tokyo Olympics, four new events were included – baseball and softball, karate, sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding. The motto of the games was "faster, higher, stronger – together."
• Miraitowa was the official mascot of the 2020 Summer Olympics. The name Miraitowa is based on the Japanese words "mirai", meaning “future”, and "towa", meaning “eternity”

India at Tokyo 2020

India sent the largest ever contingent of 126 competitors to the Tokyo Olympics. This was the most successful Olympics Games for India since its first regular Olympics appearance in 1920. India participated in a record 69 events and won a total of 7 medals, including 1 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals.

Mirabai Chanu: First Medal for India at Tokyo Olympics

• Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu from Manipur won a Silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Women's 49 kg, securing India's first medal of the games.
• She is the first Indian lifter to win a silver medal at the Olympics and the second to win a medal after Karnam Malleswari's bronze in Sydney 2000.

P V Sindhu: First Indian Woman to win two Olympic Medals

• Shuttler P V Sindhu won a bronze medal in Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. She won silver at Rio 2016.

Lovlina Borgohain: Third Indian Boxer to win an Olympic Medal

• Lovlina Borgohain from Assam became second Indian woman after Mary Kom (2012 London Olympics) to win a bronze in Olympics.
• She has become only the third Indian boxer to ensure a podium finish at the showpiece after Vijender Singh (2008) and MC Mary Kom (2012). Hers’ is also the first Olympic medal in Indian boxing in nine years.

Hockey Medal after 40 Years

• The men's hockey team defeated Germany (5-4) to win the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. This is India's first Olympic medal in hockey since they won the gold medal in the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.
• India is the most successful team at the Olympics in men's hockey with eight gold medals.

Neeraj Chopra: Fist Indian to win an Athletics Medal in Olympics

• Neeraj Chopra won a gold medal with a throw of 87.58m in the men’s javelin throw final at the Tokyo Olympics.
• He became the first track and field athlete to win an Olympic gold medal for India. It is the second Olympic athletics medal for India after Norman Pritchard won two silver medals at the 1900 Summer Olympics.

Ravi Kumar Dahiya wins Silver

• Ravi Kumar Dahiya from Haryana bagged the silver medal after losing in the final of men's 57 kg freestyle category to Russian Olympic Committee’s (ROC) Zavur Uguev.
• He became the second Indian wrestler, after Sushil Kumar, to get a silver medal in the Olympics.

Bajrang Punia’s Bronze

• Bajrang Punia won the Bronze medal in the men’s freestyle 65 kg game.
• He beat Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan in the repechage round at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Issues Remain

Though this is India’s best performance in the Olympics, yet it is much below India’s potential. India has not seen much significant improvements in its Olympics performance over the years. There is a lack of encouragement for young children to take up sports as a viable career choice. The culture of cutting edge competition has resulted in families and schools mainly focusing on careers in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine, etc., that requires specialized studies for competitive examinations.

• In recent times funding by the government has increased for events such as Khelo India Games, which saw a hike of Rs 312.42 crore, from an amount of Rs 578 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 890.42 crore. However, it is yet to be seen whether this increase in the budgetary allocation will bring a larger change at the ground level.
• The sports institutions and their governance is marred by corruption, lack of transparency and unclear demarcation of rights and responsibilities, leading to an environment of malpractices.
• The sporting culture is limited to a few pockets of the country. Generally rural youth have the passion for sports, but it is missing amongst the urban youth. Also, there is a general bias towards cricket events in the country. Majority of media consumption of sports in the country could be attributed to the Indian Premier League.
• Ethnic, racial and caste discrimination are still prevalent in the sports ecosystem. Sports persons from north eastern states often face discrimination.