2021 proves to be a crowning year for Indian sports

New Delhi: From commendable performance at Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics to National Dope Testing Laboratory regaining accreditation from World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) - 2021 proved to be a crowning year for India in the field of sports.

India returned with a total of seven medals, including 1 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze, for their best tally till date at Olympics.

As many as four debutants - Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Bajrang Punia, Lovlina Borgohain and Neeraj Chopra, and Mirabai Chanu, PV Sindhu and the Indian men's hockey team complete the list.

Mirabai bagged silver medal in 49 kg weightlifting, which marked India's second ever medal in the discipline at Olympics.

Pugilist Lovlina Boroghain won bronze in Welter Weight category. She became the second Indian woman to win a medal in boxing.

The Indian men's hockey team ended the 41-year Olympic medal drought after defeating Germany 5-4 to clinch the historic bronze medal.

Neeraj Chopra won the first-ever gold for India in the track and field event. He also became the second Indian to win an individual gold in Olympics for the country.

PV Sindhu clinched bronze in women's singles badminton event and became the first Indian woman to win two individual medals at the major international multi-sport event.

While wrestler Ravi Dahiya pocketed silver in 57 kg, Bajrang Punia bagged bronze in 65 kg weight category.

India also won unprecedented 19 medals at the Tokyo Paralympics, which is more than the combined number of medals won in previous editions. Till Tokyo 2020, India had won a total of 12 medals in all previous Paralympics Games.

Moreover, India achieved highest ranking (24th) in the Paralympics medal table. The previous best was 25th spot, which came way back in 1972.

The Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur conferred the first-ever Sports Authority of India (SAl) Institutional Awards to 246 athletes and coaches for their exceptional performances under various sports promotion schemes at the national and international level.

Kidambi Srikanth became the first Indian male shuttler to reach BWF World Championships final and clinched silver medal. Meanwhile, Lakshya Sen bagged bronze and became the youngest Indian to win a medal at the showpiece event.

The National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) regained the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accreditation. With this, NDTL’s Anti-Doping testing activities were resumed with immediate effect.

The government also introduced National Anti-Doping Bill 2021 in Lok Sabha during the winter session of Parliament. The bill seeks to provide statutory framework for tackling doping in sport and give greater powers to the country’s doping watchdog.

To cheer the Indian athletes who participated at Tokyo Olympics, a social media group was created, with all participating athletes, coaches and support staffs as its members, to generate a feeling of oneness among the athletes during the Games which were held under extra-ordinary circumstances.

Central Athlete Injury Management System (CAlMS), a first-of-its-kind initiative by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, was launched on June 11 for streamlining the sports medicine and rehabilitation support offered to the athletes. The core committee of CAlMS includes eminent top of the line experts.

Another set of 143 Khelo India Centres across seven states with a total budget estimate of Rs 114.30 crore was launched by the Department of Sports. (UNI)