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| Photographs of Olympic Participants | Credit: TheBridge |
The Indian Army is the third-largest Army on the globe, is one of the strongest among the armies of other countries. In the past, they have proved their supremacy in various battles and missions that have been conducted to date.
However, the Indian Army doesn't just safeguard our borders with absolute devotion but also contribute to the sports with some of the best athletes representing the country on the global stage.
Sports infrastructure and facilities are top-notch at army institutes, so the athletes who have joined the army or army person who wants to pursue sports get their breeding ground.
In the past Olympics, there were several athletes from the Army who had represented India in it. Let's have a look at athletes going to Tokyo Olympics from the Indian Army.
Amit Panghal (Boxing)
Amit Panghal, born on (16 October 1995) is a subedar in the Mahar Regiment of the Indian Army. The 25-years-old boxer had won a silver medal in the 2019 World boxing championship and also a gold medal in the 2020 World cup. He will be representing India in the 52 kg category at Tokyo Olympics and is the front-runner of India's hope to win a medal in boxing.
Manish Kaushik (Boxing)
Manish Kaushik, born on (11 January 1996) serves in the Indian Army as Joint Commissioned Officer. The boxer hailing from Haryana had won a silver medal in the 2018 Commonwealth Games and a bronze medal in the 2019 World championship. After the win against Garside in the qualification round, he became the last Indian boxer to qualify for the games and will be representing India in the 63 kg category at Tokyo Olympics.
Satish Kumar (Boxing)
Satish Kumar, born on (4 May 1989), joined the Indian Army in 2008. Since then, he has been part of various nationals and international boxing events. The heavyweight boxer had won a bronze medal in the 2014 Asian Games and a silver medal in the 2018 Olympics. The 32-years-old boxer became the first Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics when he defeated Otgonbayer Daivii in the Asian Boxing Olympics qualifier, and he will be competing in the 91 kg category at Tokyo Olympics.
Avinash Sable (Athletics)
Avinash Sable, born on (13 September 1994) joined the Mahar Regiment of the Indian Army right after his schooling. He represents India in 3000 metres steeplechase and holds the national record of 8:20.21, which he achieved at the federation cup in Patiala 2021. The 26-years-old athletes had won a silver medal in the 2019 Asian Athletics Championship, and he wants to break his record in Tokyo.
Neeraj Chopra (Athletics)
Neeraj Chopra, born on (24 December 1997) joined the Indian Army as Junior Commissioned Officer in 2016. He represented India in javelin throw and holds the national record of 88.07 m which he threw at the Indian Grand Prix in March 2021. The 23-years-old athlete already has a rich medal history with a gold medal in the 2018 Asian games and commonwealth games.
Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh (Rowing)
Arjun Jat and Arvind Singh both joined the Indian Army in 2017, and they train for rowing at the Army sports institute in Pune. They both qualified for the Olympics in the men's lightweight double sculls event after finishing second in the final race of the Asia Continental Qualifying in Tokyo. These two rowers will be the only representation from India at Tokyo Olympics 2021.
Vishnu Saravanan (Sailing)
Vishnu Saravanan was enrolled in the Indian Army as Naib Subedar in 2017, and he will be representing India in Sailing at Tokyo Olympics 2021. His father was also an accomplished sailor who was a Madras Sappers Sailor, and Vishnu was also encouraged to take up sailing in 2014. Vishnu has been training in Malta for the past two years, and he participated in Mussanah Sailing Championship to qualify for the Olympics.
Pravin Jadhav (Archery)
Pravin Jadhav born on (6 July 1996) is a ranked Havaldar in the Indian army and he trains at the army institute Pune. He represents India in recurve discipline of archery and has qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2020. At the 2019 World Archery championship, the 24-years-old archer was a member of the first Indian team to qualify for the final since 2005, the team won a silver medal in that event.
Tarundeep Rai (Archery)
Tarundeep Rai born on (22 February 1984) who hails from Sikkim serves as a Junior Commissioned Officer in the Indian Army and represents India in archery. He made his debut in international archery way back in 2003 at the age of 19 years and has been part of two silver winning world championship teams (2005 & 2019). The 37-years-old is the first Indian to win an individual medal in the Asian games when he achieved the feat at the 2010 Asian games.
