New Delhi: The 2016 Rio Olympics in India was about the recognition and immense talent women athletes possess. Thanks to the laurels brought by PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and Dipa Karmakar, though the latter wasn’t among the medals but her relentless efforts didn’t go unnoticed.
Sindhu and Sakshi saved India from drawing a blank in Olympics medal, continuing the streak of Indians finishing on the podium of the quadrennial showpiece for six editions in a row since Leander Paes won bronze medal at Atlanta in 1996.
PV Sindhu youngest Indian Olympics medalist
PV Sindhu, who was aged 21 at that event, became the youngest Indian to win an Olympics medal. The Hyderabad-born shuttler came into the tournament after recovering from a stress fracture in 2015 and she was seeded ninth in the women’s singles. The focus was completely on Saina Nehwal, who bagged a historic bronze medal in the previous edition in London.
However, Sindhu had a point to make, the one that would write her chapter of ascendancy. And she did that in a spectacular fashion, winning against the likes of Laura Sarosi, Michelle Li, Tai Tzu-ying (Round of 16), Wang Yihan (quarterfinals) and second-seeded Nozomi Okuhara to become the first Indian shuttler to make an Olympics final in any category of badminton.
Despite taking an advantage with a opening game win against then World No.1 Carolina Marin in the final, Sindhu couldn’t hold to Marin’s agility and blistering smashes as the Indian went down 19-21, 21-12, 21-15. Although Sindhu had to settle with a silver medal, it paved the way for the next generation of Indian shuttlers to look badminton as a sporting professional.
Sakshi Malik wins first women’s wrestling medal at Olympics
After Commonwealth Games champion Geeta Phogat missed qualification, there was no hopes from Indian female wrestlers to supersede the biggest wrestler in the country at that point. Geeta’s miss turned out to be Sakshi’s gain. Sakshi was slotted in for the final Olympics qualification event in Istanbul after Geeta and Babita were disqualified for not turning up for the repechage round.
Sakshi defeated China’s Zhang Lan in Istanbul to book her Olympics spot in Rio. She got the better of Johanna Mattsson 5-4 in the qualification round and then upstaged Mariana Cherdivara of Moldova 5-5 on criteria to make it to the quarterfinals.
Although she went down 2-9 to Russian grappler Valeria Koblova, she restored her medal chances after emphatically winning the repechage round against Mongolia’s Purevdorjin Orkhon 12-3 to make it to the bronze medal-match. She overcame a 5-0 deficit early in the bout to claim a 8-5 victory and became the first Indian woman wrestler, and fourth overall, to win a Olympics medal.
Dipa Karmakar’s close push
Dipa Karmakar, the first Indian female gymnast, missed the podium finish by a whisker. She missed the bronze medal by a 0.15 points but her clean finish in the most dangerous Produnova vault was enough to win millions of hearts back in the country. Dipa might have not won a medal but it was an advertisement for Indian gymnasts, particularly for women athletes.
The 2016 Rio Olympics in India was about the recognition and immense talent women athletes possess. Thanks to the laurels brought by PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and Dipa Karmakar, though the latter wasn’t among the medals but her relentless efforts didn’t go unnoticed. Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
