Though India first participated in Summer Olympics in 1900 and Mr. Norman Pitchard won 2 silver medals in 200 meters running and 200 meters hurdle, it wasn’t until the year 2000 that an Indian woman won a medal in Summer Olympics which is generally held once in 4 years. (Note: This year’s Summer Olympics which was scheduled to be held in Tokyo has been postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
Indian women began to shine in Olympics since 2000 when Ms. Karnam Malleswari – a well-known weightlifter (she has 19 International Medals before Sydney 2000 Olympics) lifted 110 kgs in the snatch category and 130 kgs in the clean and jerk category. The total of 240 kgs won her the Bronze Medal at Summer Olympics held at Sydney in Australia. Her victory inspired millions of Indians to excel in sports and earn a name in the international sports arena.
India had to wait for 12 more years for the next medal. In the Summer Olympics 2012 held at London in The UK, Indian women managed to win 2 more Bronze medal. The highly competitive Ms. Saina Nehwal won a bronze medal in Women’s Singles Badminton and pugilist Ms. Mary Kom won a bronze medal in Women’s Flyweight Boxing. Thereafter, Indian women began to take serious interest in individual sports.
The following Summer Olympics 2016 held at Rio De Janerio in Brazil saw more entries and the expectations were high. And the participants didn’t let down the billions of Indians. Here, Ms. Sakshi Malik put her best to win a bronze medal in Women’s Freestyle 58Kgs Wrestling. However, the limelight was stolen by shuttler Ms. P.V. Sindhu who won the silver medal in Women’s Singles Badminton.
The struggles of Ms. Mary Kom is truly encouraging and a bio-pic was made about her. These five women have inspired millions of Indian women to confidently and aggressively participate in individual competitive sports. I believe, we girls at Orchids must take an active interest in sports and do our best to bring laurels to our school, state and country.
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