Hyderabad: Depression, anxiety, rage quitting jobs, family break-ups -- all this that once seemed like mind jargons have attained a familiarity in everyday discussions. The Covid-19 pandemic has altered the discourse completely in what was another year ravaged by the virus.
While people have shown immense character and resilience in the face of another start-stop year that swept over a million lives with soul-shattering scenes in the Ganges, overburdened hospitals, and people being cut off from their familiar moorings due to quarantine, sports came to the rescue in many ways to keep the human spirit alive and boat floating.
It provided something to believe in, and expect.
The Tokyo Olympics, which happened last year after a long haul of deliberations, came in like a relief, a breather, a respite, amidst perpetual worries the pandemic posed to humans.
The jury is still out on whether or not the Games should have happened at all. One can save the discussion for another day. But Tokyo Olympics gave India, the country worst affected by the virus along with the United States, its first gold medal in Athletics.
If Neeraj Chopra's gold medal was the highest point of optimism for the country, Milkha Singh's grief gripped the nation after his demise due to post Covid related complications.
From Neeraj Chopra to Kidambi Srikanth, the breach of The Gabba fortress in Australia to Manipur's weightlifter Mira Chanu lifting Indian spirits at the Olympics, ETV Bharat makes a compilation of athletes and teams in 2021 whose achievements kept the Indians moving, marching and believing that the night is the darkest just before dawn. And eventually, it will all pass.
Mirabai Chanu (Weight-lifting)
Yes, Mirabai confessed to this website to have "eaten a lot of pizzas" after returning from Tokyo. And for all the right reasons. She was the first athlete to have opened India's account at the Tokyo Olympics by bagging a silver medal in the 49-kg weight category.
Mirabai's tale, from not being able to record a single valid lift at Rio Olympics five years ago to ending at the podium, is an inspirational story that will be told by generations of coaches and storytellers to inspire young players.
The silver lining and pizzas came with a lot of sacrifices after losing out at Rio. "I was devastated. I didn't eat for the next few days. I couldn't understand what had happened despite putting in so much of hard work and effort. I promised myself that day to work harder and perform in coming competitions. I believed in myself that I can do it," she had told Etv Bharat after clinching the medal.
Her journey of grit and hardwork that started from victory at the World Championship finally culminated with a silver in Tokyo.
NEERAJ CHOPRA (Athletics)
Neeraj Chopra saved the best moment for the last.
At just 23, Chopra shattered several glass ceilings and got India its first gold medal in the last 13-years and the first in track-and-field at the Tokyo Olympics. He threw the javelin over 87.58m to clinch only the second individual gold for India after Abhinav Bindra's heroics at Beijing Olympics in 2008.
For a cricket-obsessed country that suddenly comes to life during the Olympics, India finished with their best-ever medal haul at the grandest stage of the world sporting event, signing off with seven medals in all, including two silver and four bronze. Meanwhile, Chopra also fulfilled late Milkha Singh's wish of clinching a medal in track and field.
LOVLINA BORGOHAIN (Boxing)
Lovlina became country's darling after she signed off with a bronze medal in 69kg weight category in her debut Olympic Games. Happy with the medal, Lovlina confessed to Etv Bharat that her ultimate goal remains to win a gold medal for India.
"My journey was always about clinching gold medal for India. It hasn't ended yet as I was aiming for gold. In the next Olympics, I have to change the colour of it," she had said.
Lovlina, one of the country's brightest boxer, has still got enough fuel in her tank to punch her to a gold medal in the Paris Olympics.
Read: INTERVIEW: 'Happy with Bronze', Lovlina aims 'dream' Gold medal at Paris Olympics
BAJRANG PUNIA AND RAVI KUMAR DAHIYA (Wrestling)
If Ravi Dahiya's performance was anything to go by in the previous matches, the country had started harbouring hopes of a gold medal before he was beaten by Russia's two-time defending world champion Zavur Uguev in the 57 kg finals. Dahiya ended his brilliant Olympic run with a silver medal for India.
His compatriot, Bajrang Punia, who entered as the tournament favourite, ended his campaign with a bronze after battling a slew of injuries before the tournament.
Read: Exclusive: I focused on medal despite injury, says Bajrang Punia
PV SINDHU (Badminton)
The jury is out if Sindhu is the best ever athlete the country has produced thus far. The former world champion added another feather to her cap after she fetched her second medal (bronze) at the Olympics. In an interview, she had told this website that her ultimate goal was to win a medal at the Tokyo Olympics. And she did it in style.
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S HOCKEY TEAM
A craft that India seemed to have once mastered, it took the country 41 years, their last medal came at Moscow in 1980, to bring back its days of glory and win a medal for the nation. India beat Germany 5-4 in a bronze medal match after they were beaten by eventual gold medallists Belgium in the semi-finals.
Read: INTERVIEW: 'We can beat any team,' says Rani Rampal ahead of Tokyo Olympics
The women's Hockey team led by Rani Rampal were second to none. Very few had hedged their bets on the team but they rose from nowhere after a shaky start in the tournament and came tantalisingly close to eventually losing to Great Britain in a bronze medal playoff.
INDIA'S WIN OVER AUSTRALIA (Cricket)
India's win at The Gabba is the stuff of folklore. Be it thrilling cameos by T Natarajan and Shardul Thakur or the enthralling exhibition of endurance by the Indian batting line-up. The team that once struggled to field the playing XI following a spate of injuries and their captain, Virat Kohli, returning home for the birth of his first child, showed incredible resilience after 36 all out at Adelaide to breach The Gabba fortress at Brisbane to clinch the Broder Gavaskar trophy 2-1.
In women's cricket, Smrithi Mandhana elegance was on full display against Australia in their debut pink-ball Test match. Mithali Raj became the first Indian batter and second overall to breach the 10,000 runs mark in international cricket.
ADITI ASHOK (Golf)
In the golf event, Aditi Ashok narrowly missed out on an Olympic medal after finishing a brilliant 4th in the women's individual stroke play. On the final day, the 23-year-old rolled in five birdies to be placed a famous fourth on fifteen-under 201 ahead of Australia's Hannah Green and Denmark's Pedersen who tied for fifth. The Indian finished the final day with 68 (-3) at the Kasumigaseki Country Club.
KIDAMBI SRIKANTH AND LAKSHYA SEN (Badminton)
Shuttler Srikanth became India's first man to have won the silver medal at the World Championships. The great Prakash Padukone won bronze medal in 1983 and HS Prannoy clinched the same in 2019. Lakshya Sen has also given India a lot of hope of a bright future as he became the latest edition in the World Championships medal's tally list with bronze medal to his name.
Srikanth, in an interview with Etv Bharat, said that while he is relishing his performance in the World Championship, his sole focus remains on winning a medal at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
INDIA'S PARALYMPIC STINT
If Tokyo Olympics kept India Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Twitter account busy with plaudits for the athletes, the Paralympics provided no breather as India registered its best-ever performance at the showdown, clinching as many as 19 medals which included 5 gold medals.
Pramod Bhagat: With badminton being introduced for the first time at the Tokyo Paralympics, ace shuttler Pramod Bhagat didn't disappoint and became the first Indian in the sport to win gold at the Tokyo Paralympics. His feat was followed by that of Krishna Nagar.
Sumit Antil: Following in the footsteps of Neeraj Chopra, Antil not just won gold in para-javelin but also dominated the sport with three of his throws shattering the world records.
Ayushmaan Pandey
