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Vinicius de Moraes and Tom Jobim
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Summer Olympic Games
2016
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The greatest
event in the sports world in 2016 is undoubtedly the Summer Olympics
scheduled to be held between 5 and 21 August in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. And
Rio certainly promises to be bigger than ever. Some 206 National Olympics
Committees across the world will be sending in athletes to compete. It is
likely that over 10,500 of the best sportspersons in the world will compete
to win in the 306 events held (in 28 different sports).
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India at the Rio
Olympics
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India first
participated in the Olympic Games in 1900 (as part of the British Empire) and
has been consistent in its participation in the Summer Olympics since 1920.
Altogether, our country has managed to secure about 9 gold, 6 silver, and 11
bronze medals taking the total to 26 – a dismal count given our sporting
talent and passion for the games. At the 2012 London Olympics, Indian
athletes secured 2 silver medals and 4 bronze medals. In 2008 Beijing
Olympics, India managed to secure its first individual gold medal. This year,
however, Indian Olympics Association has decided to maximise its chances at
winning by sending in the nation’s largest delegation yet. It seems likely
that 91 Indian sportspersons will participate in 12 sports at the Rio
Olympics. The last India sent in a similarly large contingent was in 2012,
when 83 athletes and sportspersons from India participated in the London
Olympics.
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The Indian team
is a great mix of senior well-established players and newer names. Here are
some of the names to watch out for in Rio in 2016.
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Gymnastics
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22-year-old
Tripura gymnast, Dipa Karmakar, first made a name for herself by becoming one
of the five women in the world to have succeeded in landing the treacherously
difficult Produnova vault and then by becoming the first Indian female to
secure an Olympic berth in artistic gymnastics event.
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Hockey
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The Indian hockey
team has certainly been one of the most successful teams at the Olympics.
Both the men’s and women’s hockey teams have been selected for Rio but the
list of players in both teams is yet to be announced. It is likely that the
more successful players such as Sardar Singh and PR Sreejesh will be headed
to Brazil.
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Archery
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According to the
Archery Association of India three women have hitherto been selected to
represent India at Rio. Deepika Kumari, Bombayla Devi Laishram, and Laxmirani
Majhi made it to the top 8 in team recurve at the 2015 World Archery
Championships, in Copenhagen (Denmark) before having been selected. Mangal
Singh Champia has qualified for the men’s individual archery event.
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Shooting
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The Indian
shooting team is studded with the likes of Jitu Rai and PN Prakash (50 m Free
Pistol), Ayonika Paul, Apurvi Chandela and Abhinav Bindra (10 m Air Rifle),
Heena Sidhu and Gurpreet Singh (10m Air Pistol), Gagan Narang and Chain Singh
(50 m Rifle), Kynan Chenai and Manavjit Singh Sandhu (Trap), and Mairaj Ahmed
Khan (Skeet).
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Athletics
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The athletics
team having qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games is one of the largest yet
and includes 10 men and 8 women athletes.
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The men who will
participate in the track events are Thonakal Gopi, Nitender Singh Rawat, and
Kheta Ram (marathon), Sandeep Kumar and
Manish Singh Rawat (50 km walk),
Baljinder Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Irfan Kolothum Thodi (20 km walk).
The women qualifying for track events include Tintu Luka (women’s 800 m),
Lalita Babar (women’s 3000 m steeplechase and marathon), Khushbir Kaur and
Sapna Punia (20 km walk), and Kavita Raut, Sudha Singh, and OP Jaisha
(marathon).
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As far as the
field events go, Vikas Gowda has qualified for the discus throw event, and
Inderjeet Singh and Manpreet Kaur for the men’s and women’s shot put events
respectively.
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Badminton
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Saina Nehwal, the
number 2 player in the world is looking forward to bringing home a medal from
the Rio Olympics. It is likely that her Indian rival PV Sindhu may also join
the team of Rio bound badminton players. Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa
make a great combination and are preparing for the women’s doubles badminton
event. On the men’s front K Srikanth has qualified to play at the Rio
Olympics while Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy are preparing for the men’s
doubles event.
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Tennis
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Padma Shri
Leander Paes has qualified for the doubles event of tennis. He is considered
one of the most prolific players the country has produced. Paes has competed
at six Olympic Games. The other tennis star to have qualified is Sania Mirza.
Mirza is now ranked number 1 in the women’s doubles rankings.
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Rowing
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24-year-old Dattu
Bhokanal from Maharashtra, champion rower from India, has qualified for the
2016 Olympics to participate in the single sculls event. Bhokanal managed to
secure the second place at the finals of the 2016 FISA Asian and Oceania
Olympic qualification regatta held at Korea in at Chung-ju recently.
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Weightlifting
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Our nation has
high expectations from the weightlifters. India has earned two quota places
for Rio Olympics, one each in men’s and women’s categories. This means that
the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF) will hold trials for men and women
across all weight divisions to finalise on two participants.
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Wrestling
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The wrestlers who
have qualified for Rio in both the men’s and women’s categories are also the
best in the country. Yogeshwar Dutt, Narsingh Yadav, Sandeep Tomar, Ravinder
Khatri, and Hardeep Singh will participate in the Freestyle and Greco-Roman
style wrestling events for men while Vinesh Phogat, Babita Kumari and Sakshi
Malik shall compete in the freestyle women’s wrestling event.
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Boxing
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After MC Mary
Kom’s surprising elimination, Shiva Thapa remains the only boxer who has
qualified for Rio Olympics 2016. Thapa shall be competing in the bantamweight
category.
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Table-tennis
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India has decided
to send four table tennis players to the 2016 Rio Olympics. Soumyajit Ghosh,
who was part of the 2012 Olympics, team and Sharath Kamal Achanta were chosen
for the men’s singles event while Manika Batra and Mouma Das were chosen to
represent the women.
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