Men in Uniform made India proud at Tokyo Olympics 2020

The Images of our national flag flying higher than two Czech Republican flags and the Indian National Anthem playing in the Background is still fresh in our mind. It not only gives goosebumps to many but fills our hearts will pride. Subedar Neeraj Chopra, VSM has created history by getting the first Individual Gold medal in Track & Field after Indian Independence and only the second Indian to achieve an Individual Gold Medal at Summer Olympics after Indian Independence. At Last, an Armymen came to the rescue and gave India its first Gold medal in Tokyo 2020 in style by getting in many record books. Along with Subedar Neeraj Chopra, VSM there were 15 others from the Indian Defence forces who were part of the Indian Summer Olympics Contingent of 2020 and competed across various events. In this article, let’s know how our Men in Uniform made India proud at Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Indian Contingent at Tokyo Olympics 2020

The Tokyo Olympics 2020, which concluded on 8^th August after getting delayed for almost a year due to COVID-19. It was one of the Most Memorable and successful Olympics for Indian Players getting the highest number of medals in any summer Olympics after Independence. The Indian Olympics contingent comprised 124 participants who took part in 18 sports. This includes 2 extra players and 1 reserve goalie in men’s & women’s hockey squads.

Name of Event	Men Participants	Women Participants	Total Participants	Medal Won
Archery	3	1	4	0
Athletics	17	9	26	1 (G)
Badminton	3	1	4	1 (B)
Boxing	5	4	9	1 (B)
Equestrian	1	0	1	0
Fencing	0	1	1	0
Golf	2	2	3	0
Gymnastics	0	1	1	0
Hockey – Men & Women	18	16	34	1 (B)
Judo	0	1	1	0
Rowing	2	0	2	0
Sailing	3	1	4	0
Shooting	8	7	15	0
Swimming	2	1	3	0
Table Tennis	2	2	4	0
Tennis	1	2	3	0
Weightlifting	0	1	1	1 (B)
Wrestling	3	4	7	1 (S), 1 (B)
Total	70	54	124	7

Men in Uniform on Olympics Duty

The Indian Defence Forces have always stood up to safeguard the national interest, whether it is external aggression or any internal natural calamity or disaster. Men in Uniform have always come to their people’s rescue when it mattered the most. This time the Field was different, the nature of the weapon was different, and the opponents were different but the result was the same, A Victorious Indian Armymen.

Indian services team has always been a breeding place for some of India’s finest athletes including the likes of the legendary Milkha Singh.  On the penultimate day of the Tokyo Olympics, the Golden Arm of Subedar Neeraj Chopra, VSM gave India a moment of cheer and celebration by grabbing a Gold Medal in Javelin Throw. The Tokyo Olympics witnessed a total of 19 men from the Indian defense forces who competed in various events. Let’s know them and look at how these Men in Uniform made India proud at Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Havaldar Pravin Jadhav made his debut at the Olympic Games by participating in Tokyo Olympics 2020 by being part of the Archery Team. He was surely the best among the Indian lot by doing well in every event he participated in.

Currently, he is ranked as World No. 45, and his Olympics run ended when he lost to United States World No.1 Brady Ellison in the second round. In the first round, he defeated World No. 2 Galsan Bazarzhapov.

Naik Subedar Irfan Kolothum Thodi also known as KT Irfan was among the first Indian athletes to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. He booked his position in the Men’s 20 km racewalk event of athletics after finishing 4^th at the Asian Race Walking Championships held in Nomi, Japan. 

He completed the walk race at Tokyo Olympics in the 51^st position. The current National record in the 20 km racewalk was made by him by clocking a timing of 1:20:21 at the London Olympics held in 2012 where he ended 10^th.

Havaldar Avinash Sable is currently holding the national record in men’s 3000m steeplechase which he made at Tokyo Olympics where he clocked 8:18.12. However, he didn’t qualify for the finals. Sable is relatively new to the sport as it was only in 2015, that he took the game seriously while serving in the Indian army. The 26-year-old Avinash Sable was much better than 3 other athletes who directly qualified by ending in the top 3 in another heat. He was also the fastest loser, who didn’t make it to the final.

This is not the first time he has broken the national record for the event. In the last 2 years, he has bettered his own national record 4 times. Havaldar Avinash Sable broke the 37-year-old national record held by Gopal Saini, by completing the race in 8:29.80 at the 2018 National Open Championships. He better his timing by clocking 8:28.94 in March 2019 at the Federation Cup. On 1 October 2019 at the World Championships qualifying race, he improved his timing by running 8:25.23, creating a new national record. He further improved the national record to 8:21.37 in the finals of the World Championships 2019, which booked his ticket for the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Men in Uniform made India proud at Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Subedar Neeraj Chopra, VSM has been the Golden Boy of India in the Tokyo Olympics with his 87.58-meter mark Javelin’s throw gave India its first Olympics gold medal in the Track and Field Event after Independence. It is the second Individual Gold Medal at the Olympics after Independence. It has now been etched in the nation’s sporting history.

Subedar Neeraj joined the Indian Army under the sports Quota as a Naib Subedar in May 2016. He was trained under the Mission Olympics Wing of the Indian Army, a unique initiative to train talented athletes and sportspersons in 11 different games for various competitions.  In 2016, he made an impact on the international level when he shattered the World Junior record with a massive throw of 86.48 meters. Later, he won a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2018 Asian Games. He became the first-ever javelin thrower of India to win a gold medal.

During his preparation for Tokyo 2020, Neeraj’s faced many obstacles and a major one was when he got an injury on his throwing arm and underwent surgery for the same. But with strong determination and will, he ensured to carve that golden history for the nation.

Subedar Neeraj Chopra, VSM is part of the 4 Rajputana Rifles and joined the Indian Army as a direct entry Naib Subedar in May 2016.

Sergeant Shivpal Singh qualified for Tokyo Olympics 2021 in the Men’s Javelin throw event after throwing a massive throw of 85.47 meters in the ACNW League held in South Africa on 25 January 2020. In October 2019, Sgt Shivpal Singh who was part of the IAF Athletics team, made history when he won the Gold medal in Javelin throw by covering a distance of 83.33 Meters at the Military World Games, Wuhan.

At Tokyo Olympics, Sgt Shivpal Singh registered a throw of 74.81 in his final attempt, which placed him at the 12^th spot in Group B of the Qualification round and failed to qualify for the finals.

Sergeant Noah Nirmal Tom and Corporal Alex Antony, part of the Indian Airforce Athletics team, have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Sergeant Noah Nirmal Tom was part of the Indian 4 X 400 meters Men’s relay team. The team showed a brave effort and created history by making the Asian Record by clocking 3:00:25 and finishing 4th in their group.

Corporal Alex Antony was part of the Indian team of 4 X 400 meters Mixed relay team.

Subedar Major Satish Kumar has shown the true Never Say Die spirit of the Indian Army and even earned the respect of his opponent who is currently the world champion – Uzbek Boxer Bakhodir Jalolov. SM Satish was the only Indian Male Boxer out of the 5 participants who won a bout. He represented India in the Men’s Super-Heavyweight Boxing event which is a 91 Kg weight category.

During his first bout in the pre-quarterfinals, he severely injured his chin and forehead. He had 13 stitches on his forehead above his left eye. He eventually won the bout. He participated in his quarter-final match with these stitches against the reigning world champion. During the bout, his stitches opened up and he was bleeding, while some amount of blood was even on his opponent’s shoulder.

Subedar Major Satish Olympics run ended after this match but won the hearts of everyone present in the arena and huge respect from every Indian.

He had won a bronze medal in the Asian Games in 2014 and a Silver Medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2018. He was also the first Indian Boxer to book his berth for the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Subedar Amit Panghal, currently world number 1 in his weight category, is a part of the Mahar Regiment of the Indian Army. He was part of the Indian Boxing Team and will be representing India in the 52 kg weight category at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. He got a bye in the first round but in the second round, he was defeated by a Colombian boxer.

The 25-years-old Subedar had won a silver medal in the 2019 World championship and also a gold medal in the 2020 Boxing World cup.

Subedar Manish Kaushik, a 25-year-old boxer in the Indian Army was the last Indian boxer to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. He represented India in Men’s Lightweight Boxing event which is 63 Kg category. Though he lost his first against the Great Britain Boxer.

Subedar Manish has earlier won a bronze medal in the World Championship, in 2019 and a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games of 2018.

Naib Subedar Arjun Jat & Naib Subedar Arvind Singh were representing India in the men’s lightweight double sculls event at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. They created history by becoming the first-ever rowers from the country to enter the semi-final of any Olympics. They Finished 11^th overall and grabbed the attention of the international rowing community with their performance.

Naib Subedar Vishnu Saravanan was part of the Indian Sailing team and represented India in Men’s Laser event at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. He finished 20^th overall in his event.

Junior Warrant Officer Deepak Kumar was part of 15 member Indian Shooting team and took part in the 10 Meter Air Rifle Event at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. He finished at 26^th position overall in his event.

JWO Deepak qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 by finishing 3^rd at Qatar’s Asian Shooting Championship held in 2019.

Men in Uniform Made India Proud at Tokyo Olympics 2020

Master Chief Petty Officer Sanjeev Rajput was also part of the Indian Shooting Team of Tokyo Olympics 2020 and took part in the 50m air rifle 3 positions. He finished at 32^nd position overall in his event.

Master Chief Petty Officer Sanjeev Rajput booked his Tokyo Olympics 2020 berth by winning a silver medal at the ISSF World Cup held in 2019 in Rio de Janerio.

Naib Subedar Deepak Punia, who was ranked world number 2 by the United World Wrestling before Tokyo Olympics represented India in Men’s freestyle 86 Kg Wrestling. In Tokyo Olympics, he narrowly missed a podium finish by losing the bronze medal match to a San Marino Wrestler M.N. Amine, and finished at 4^th Position.

He sealed his Tokyo Olympics 2020 berth by finishing 2^nd at the World Wrestling Championship held in 2019.

Naib Subedar Sandeep Kumar was one of the three Indian racewalkers who represented India in the 20 Kms walk event of the Tokyo Olympics 2020. He finished the race with an overall 23^rd position and was the best out of the 3 Indian racewalkers in contention.

Naib Subedar Sandeep Kumar holds the Indian national record in a 20 Kms racewalk with the timing of 1 hour 20 minutes 16 seconds.

Apart from these Subedar Tarundeep Rai, VSM and Havaldar Gurpreet Singh were also part of the Indian Contingent at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Subedar Tarundeep Rai, VSM was part of the Archery Team at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and participated in Archery’s Individual and Team Event.

Havaldar Gurpreet Singh represented India in a 50 km walk event at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Thus, the Indian Military serves the country in every possible way as the need arises. This is how the Men in Uniform made India proud at Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Jai Hind.

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