India at London, United Kingdom Olympics 2012

India competed in the London Olympics 2012 from 27 July to 12 August 2012. Indian Olympic Association sent the nation’s largest delegation to the Olympics in the Events history at that time. A total of 83 athletes, 60 men, and 23 women were sent to compete in 13 sports.

The sole team sport in which India had participation in these Olympic games was men’s field hockey. In weightlifting, India made its Olympic comeback after the International Weightlifting Federation placed a two-year suspension on the country’s athletes in Beijing due to a doping scandal.

The London Olympics till date remains the most successful Olympic event for India in terms of the total number of medals won. India won six Olympic medals, including two silver and four bronze.

The Historical Wins
The Indian contingent at the 2012 Olympics was led by the previous Olympics gold medalist Air Rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra. Gagan Narang, India’s first athlete to qualify for the 2012 Olympics also became the first athlete to open India’s medal tally, with a bronze in 10 m Air Rifle.
After Narang’s win, fellow marksman Vijay Kumar bagged India’s first silver of the tournament, in the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol.
Then came the bronze medal win of Saina Nehwal giving the country its first-ever women’s singles medal after China’s Wang Xin pulled out of the match with an injury.
Her win immensely popularized the badminton sport and as a result, it became the most followed sport of the country.

After that, World Boxing Champion Mary Kom became the first woman boxer to win an Olympic medal by winning a bronze in the event, adding the fourth medal to the list.
Then it was the time for the Indian wrestlers to shine, Yogeshwar Dutt defeated North Korea’s Jong Myong Ri to secure a third-place finish in the men’s freestyle 60kg category, and rack up India’s fifth medal of the event.
Last but not the least, India’s flag bearer of the event wrestler Sushil Kumar lived up to everybody’s expectations and gave India its second silver medal in the tournament. Creating history in the process by becoming the first Indian to win two individual medals.