Picture Credit: Twitter
The Indian athletes have created history at Tokyo Olympics 2020 as the contingent ended the campaign with a record-breaking tally of 7 medals. As India secured two medals on last day of participation, they surpassed their previous best tally of 6 medals which they achieved at London 2012 as the whole nation celebrated on this historic day.
After Bajrang Punia clinched the all-important bronze medal to set up the day, it was Neeraj Chopra who stole the show with his incredible performance as the 23-year-old put on an emphatic performance to clinch gold medal in men's javelin throw event, which is India's first-ever medal in athletics since independence.
Sehwag expresses his delight on India's historic performance
The whole 1.3 billion people witnessed history in making on Saturday, which is being hailed as one of the most memorable sporting days in the country. Among all the people who celebrated, there was former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag as well who is currently a part of broadcaster's crew for India's ongoing tour of England.
The 42-year-old, however, was keenly following Olympics as well as he claimed that the successful 2021 campaign in Tokyo (where India won 7 medals) could be the start of a new era in Indian sports. Sehwag added that the focus of everyone might finally shift from cricket to other sports as he himself admitted that he did not care about the ongoing Test match between India and England on the day.
While sharing the video of Indian national anthem being played in Tokyo with Neeraj standing at top of the podium, Sehwag tweeted, "Goosebumps... An India test match going on & the way we were glued to our screens to cheer for Kamalpreet, Ravi , Bajrang, Sindhu & #NeerajChopra today, this @Olympics marks a paradigm shift in interest towards other sports, in these few moments truly felt Cricket gaya tel lene."
Record-breaking Olympics campaign for India in Tokyo
Coming to Tokyo, the key objective for India was to better the performances of previous editions. And the athletes certainly did not disappoint! Despite a few setbacks where India were expecting, the nation went on to win 7 medals. The list of Indian medal winners at Tokyo 2020 is as follows:
Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifting) - Silver Medal
PV Sindhu (Badminton) - Bronze Medal
Lovlina Borgohain (Boxing) - Bronze Medal
India (Men's Hockey) - Bronze Medal
Ravi Kumar Dahiya (Wrestling) - Silver Medal
Bajrang Punia (Wrestling) - Bronze Medal
Neeraj Chopra (Athletics) - Gold Medal