India had sent a 228-strong contingent to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The contingent included 120 athletes and a better show was expected, according to the experts. And a better show is what the Indian contingent exhibited.

With 7 medals – 1 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze – India improved their 2012 London Olympics medal tally of 6.

1 gold – Neeraj Chopra (javelin throw – athletics)

2 silver – Mirabai Chanu (weightlifting), Ravi Kumar Dahiya (wrestling)

4 bronze – PV Sindhu (badminton), Bajrang Punia (wrestling), Men’s hockey, Lovlina Borgohain (boxing)

A pre-tournament medal contender, the 23-year-old Neeraj had fuelled the country’s expectations by topping the qualification round with a stunning first-round throw of 86.59m.

Before this, three track and field athletes were part of the five-member Indian team at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium — the other two being wrestlers. Since then, no Indian has won a medal in athletics.

During the London Olympics, India won 2 silver and 4 bronze. A total of 83 athletes, including 60 men and 23 women, competed in 13 sports.

The Indian team had Olympic medalists from Beijing, including rifle shooter and Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, who failed to advance to the medal round in his event.

Wrestler and Olympic bronze medalist Sushil Kumar managed to bring home another medal by winning silver in the men’s freestyle wrestling.

The 2012 Olympics outing was India’s most successful Olympics in terms of the total medal tally. They had doubled the nation’s previous record of 3 medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

India at 2012 London Olympics.

2 silver – Vijay Kumar (shooting), Sushil Kumar (wrestling)

4 bronze – Gagan Narang (shooting), Saina Nehwal (badminton), Mary Kom (boxing), Yogeshwar Dutt (wrestling)

With the Tokyo Olympics coming to an end, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said this is the time to keep working to further popularise sports at the grassroots so that new talents emerge and get the opportunity to represent India in the times to come.

“As #Tokyo2020 draws to a close, I would like to congratulate the Indian contingent for their stupendous performance at the games. They personified the best of skill, teamwork and dedication. Every athlete who represented India is a champion,” the prime minister said.

Modi also lauded Japan for successfully hosting the games overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“A special thank you to the government and people of Japan, especially Tokyo for hosting the well-organised games. To host it so successfully, in such times, gave out a strong message of resilience. It also demonstrated how sports is a great unifier,” he said.