The 2024 edition of the Olympics is set to begin on July 26, in the capital city of France, Paris. The edition will see a total of 117 athletes fighting for medals across 16 sporting disciplines. Among those 16 sports, the track and field events have the highest number of Indian representatives with 29 athletes. Other than that, a total of 21 athletes will participate in shooting from India.
Revisiting India’s campaign at the 2012 London Olympics
The 2012 edition of the Olympics held in London was India’s most successful Olympics assignment until Tokyo 2020. India headed with 83 athletes and came back with six medals, including two silver and four bronze. Here are India’s medal winners at the London Olympics 2012:
Sushil Kumar – Silver (Wrestling)
Indian star wrestler, Sushil Kumar won the men’s 66 kg freestyle silver during the 2012 Olympics. Kumar took down Akzhurek Tanatarov of Kazakhstan 9-6 in the semifinals and became the first Indian wrestler to reach the Olympic final. Earlier in the quarterfinal, Sushil defeated Ikhtiyor Navruzov of Uzbekistan. He opened by securing a win against Ramazan Sahin of Turkey who had won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Vijay Kumar – Silver (Shooting)
Indian sharp-shooter Vijay Kumar clinched the silver medal in the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event at the 2012 Olympic Games. Kumar beat back the challenge of world champion Alexei Kilmov of Russia, the Chinese duo of Ding Feng and Zhang Jian and German Christian Reitz in the 40-shot final to finish runner-up in the final and finished behind Cuba’s Leuris Pupo.
Gagan Narang – Bronze (Air Rifle)
Gagan Narang, India’s star air rifle shooter opened the medal count for India in the season. He bagged a bronze in the 10m air rifle event. Not only this, but he was also the first Indian to qualify for the edition.
Saina Nehwal – Bronze (Badminton)
Indian badminton superstar, Saina Nehwal became the first player to get India its first badminton medal at the Olympics. In the bronze medal playoff, the third-seeded Nehwal gave her country its first-ever women’s singles medal, a bronze after her rival, China’s Wang Xin pulled out of the match due to a knee injury. In the previous edition, Nehwal had made it to the quarter-final stage.
Mary Kom – Bronze (Boxing)
The 2012 London Olympics also saw India’s star woman boxer MC Mary Kom creating history by etching a bronze medal for the country in the flyweight 51 kg category. In the same year, Mary Kom became the world boxing champion for the fifth time. In the semifinal, Kom was defeated by Nicola Adams of Great Britain in the first-ever women’s flyweight event.
Yogeshwar Dutt – Bronze (Wrestling)
A 29-year-old grappler from Sonipat, Haryana, Yogeshwar Dutt put up a brilliant display of performance and plonked another medal down in India’s kitty. Yogeshwar defeated North Korea’s Jong Myong Ri to secure a third-place finish in the men’s freestyle 60kg category.