History has it that the first Olympic Games were staged in Olympia, Greece in 776 BCE. The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896 when 280 athletes – all men, from 12 countries competed in 43 events

The games could not be held during the first world war in 1916 and during the second world war in 1940 and 1944. The Olympic flag, featuring the official symbol - five interlocking colored rings, representing five continents on a white background, flew for the first time at the Antwerp Olympic Games in 1920.

The Olympic Oath was introduced in 1920 and the Olympic torch or flame was first inaugurated in the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. The modern Olympic torch relay was first instituted at the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936.

And when the curtains came down with a spectacular closing ceremony on August 9, the 127- member Indian contingent had already won millions of hearts back home in the country with an all-time best medal haul in the history of Indian Olympics since its debut in 1920

India made its debut at the Paris Olympic Games in 1900 with a lone athlete -Norman Pitchard, who won two Silver medals and became the first Asian to win an Olympic medal. India’s first team participated in the 1920 Summer Olympics at Antwerp in Belgium and has been participating in Summer Olympics since then.

The Tokyo Olympic Games was to have set off for a grand opening in the original July 24 - August 9, 2020 schedule but the Covid-19 pandemic played spoil sport. The pandemic delayed the Global Quadrennial competition by a year to July 24, 2021 and it turned out to be a splendid fortnight for India.

And when the Curtains came down with a spectacular closing ceremony on August 9, the 127-member Indian contingent had already And when the Curtains came down with a spectacular closing ceremony on August 9, the 127-member Indian contingent had already.

India was nowhere near the US, China, Japan or the Great Britain in the medal tally at the Tokyo Olympics but still made a stupendous performance winning seven medals – one Gold, two Silver and four Bronze to be placed 48th in the Medal table.

This was India’s best ever medal haul in the Olympics as the athletes edged past the previous best of six medals in the 2012 London Olympics. The Indian contingent was among the about 11,000 athletes from over 200 countries at the Tokyo Olympics.

India’s quest for Gold came shining when 23-year Neeraj Chopra struck one as he hurled the Javelin for a distance of 87.58m, displaying India’s quest for Gold came shining when 23-year Neeraj Chopra struck one as he hurled the Javelin for a distance of 87.58m, displaying

The gold was special as the Haryana man supplanted German’s Johannes Vetter, the world’s best thrower to stand tall in the podium. It was the second medal in athletics after India’s sprinter Norman Pritchard had won two Silver medals in the 200m and 200m hurdles at the Paris Olympics way back in 1900.

This became India’s second Gold in individual event after shooter Abhinav Bindra won gold hitting the bull’s eye in the 2008 Olympics. It was Mirabai Chanu, the Manipur weightlifter who opened the account for India on the very first day in the women’s 49 kg weightlifting category. She ended India’s 21- year long wait for a weightlifting medal and ensured India began with a Silver.

PV Sindhu, India’s ace shuttler from Hyderabad and prospective medal winner won Bronze after defeating her Chinese rival in Badminton. She became the country’s first woman to win back-to-back medals in the Olympics. She had won Silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

After Six -time world champion and London Olympics Bronze medalist, Mary Kom fell short of a quarter final berth, Lovlina Borgohain, the 23-year-old pugilist from Assam won Bronze, defeating her Chinese rival in the women’s Welterweight boxing. She became India’s third pugilist to ensure podium finish after Vijendra Singh (2008) and Mary Kom (2012)

Ravi Kumar Dahiya, the 23-year-old freestyle wrestler from Haryana clinched Silver in the men’s 57kg freestyle wrestling and became the second Indian debutant to win a medal. Wrestler Bajrang Punia, also from Haryana and making his debut, won the Bronze defeating his Kazakhstan’s rival in the men’s 65kg freestyle wrestling play off.

The Men’s Team ruled the roost for more than half a century before the downfall started after the introduction of Astroturf surface at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. Earlier, the Men’s team had won eight gold medals, including an incredible run of six consecutive gold medals at the Olympics between 1928 and 1956.

Indian Men’s hockey team defeated Germany 5-4 in an enthralling match to clinch Bronze. Manpreet Singh’s men after a 1-7 loss to Australia in the league, made a giant leap to the semi-finals before settling for Bronze.

The men’s team ruled the roost for more than half a century before the downfall started after the introduction of Astroturf surface at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. Earlier, the men’s team had won eight gold medals, including an incredible run of six consecutive gold medals at the Olympics between 1928 and 1956.

The team had to settle for silver at the 1960 Games in Rome, losing to Pakistan in the final, but it reclaimed its title four years later at Tokyo 1964. India won bronze in both 1968 and 1972 Olympics but missed out on the podium altogether at Montreal in 1976.

The team had to settle for silver at the 1960 Games in Rome, losing to Pakistan in the final, but it reclaimed its title four years later at Tokyo 1964. India won bronze in both 1968 and 1972 Olympics but missed out on the podium altogether at Montreal in 1976.

The Indian women’s hockey team narrowly missed the podium finish but won millions of Indian hearts back home. In the run up to the semi-finals, Rani Rampal’s women stunned the hockey world, defeating World No.2 Australia in the quarter finals. Before bidding adieu after securing the fourth place, ‘the women in blue’ gave India more than enough reasons to celebrate.

Quite a few Indian athletes came close to the podium finish at the Tokyo Olympics and Golfer Aditi Ashok was exceptional. She came tantalisingly close to clinching a Silver before the rain marred day disturbed her rhythm, forcing the Bangalorean to be content with the fourth spot.