Asian Games Glory: Top 10 Outstanding Performances by Indian Athletes

India organized the first Asian Games post-independence in 1951 and stands out as one of the select nations that took part in every edition. The peak of success was witnessed at the 2018 Jakarta Games, where India clinched a remarkable tally of 70 medals—16 golds, 23 silvers, and 31 bronze medals—securing the eighth position in the overall standings. Prior to the 2018 Asian Games, India had accumulated a total of 672 medals. In this blog, we will look at top 10 performances by Indian athletes at Asian Games.

Top 10 Performances of Indian Athletes at Asian Games

Neeraj Chopra

Neeraj Chopra has been a significant topic of conversation in India, with his remarkable journey in various multinatnational tournament. Neeraj Chopra made a significant advancement in the 2018 Asian Games as he took home gold in the javelin throw competition. He dominated the continent that year as the best in the Commonwealth with a throw of 88.06 meters. In 2023, he’ll try to repeat this performance.

Women’s 4×400 relay

At the 10th Asian Games in Seoul, the Indian women’s 4x400m relay team set a Games record. The Indian quartet of PT Usha, MD Valsamma, Vandana Rao, and Shiny Abraham set a Games record with a time of 3:34.58 minutes. Since then, India has won many medals in the event, including gold in the 2018 Asian Games.

PT Usha

PT Usha is India’s finest female track and field athlete. Every Indian sports enthusiast is familiar with PT Usha. She was on a roll in the 1986 Asian Games, winning four gold medals in five different events. These events featured the 200M, 400M, 400M Hurdies, and Women’s 4*400 Relay.

Kabbadi Team

Kabaddi is a sport in which India has won seven gold medals since it was first introduced in 1990, which means that, except the 2018 Asian Games, where India lost in the semi-finals, India has won the gold medal in all previous editions. However, a lot more teams have emerged as strong Kabbadi teams in the last decade, and it will not be easy to win it again this time.

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Saurav Ghoshal

Saurav Ghosal made history by winning a bronze medal in squash, becoming India’s first individual medalist. In 2018 Asian Games, Ghosal defeated the 2018 Commonwealth Champion to capture a historic bronze medal for India. He’s in much better shape this time, and he’ll be aiming to change the color of his medal.

Milkha Singh

The track and field competitors have brought home the most medals for India at the Asian Games, and no list would be complete without mentioning Milkha Singh. In the 200- and 400-metre races at the 1958 Asian Games, he won two gold medals. He continued it in the 400-metre and 4*400-metre relay events from the 1962 edition.

Hima Das

Numerous exceptional athletes gained prominence during the 2018 Asian Games, and Hima Das emerged as one of the most promising talents of that year’s event. She earned two gold medals in the women’s 4*400m and the mixed 4*400m relay races, as well as a silver in the 400m race.

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Sachin Nag

Swimming has been a challenging sport for Indians, with limited medal success in both the Olympics and the Asian Games. Sachin Nag’s gold medal performance at the 1951 Asian Games in Delhi had to be among the top 10 greatest performances. Sachin Nag brought honor to India by securing the gold medal in the 100-metre freestyle event.

Seema Punia

Seema Punia has been one of the top female discus throwers in India. She has been participating for two decades in the 2014 Asian Games. This time, she was motivated to win the gold medal, which she did by throwing 61.03 meters, India’s lone gold medal in athletics in 2014. She then won a bronze medal at the 2018 competition.

Yogeshwar Dutt

Whether competing in the Olympics, Asian Games, or Commonwealth Games, India has excelled in the sport of wrestling. India had to wait 28 years for a wrestling gold medal at the Asian Games. Yogeshwar Dutt broke the streak at the 2014 Asian Games as he took home the gold medal in the 65 KG freestyle division. 10-0 was his victory margin in the contest. Many more Asian Games champions have come after him.

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