After a disappointing performance in the 2016 Rio Olympics, Indian athletes created history by winning 7 medals in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This is the most successful Olympics for India so far. Now 112 athletes from India are ready to touch new heights in the Paris Olympics 2024. The country hopes that Indian players will create a new record in this event starting from July 26. Before this, let us know about the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which was historic for India in many ways.

Beijing Olympics was historic for India

Indian athletes had a historic performance in Beijing. The 2008 Beijing Olympics was the most successful for India in the Olympic Games that began in 1900. For the first time, an Indian athlete won a gold medal in individual sport. Before this, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in the 2004 Athens Olympics and Norman Pritchard in the 1900 Paris Olympics had won silver medals in individual sport. Apart from this, Sushil Kumar won a medal in wrestling for the first time after the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. He won a wrestling medal after 56 years.

Vijender Singh created history by winning a bronze medal in boxing. He was the first Indian athlete to win a medal in boxing. Not only this, India also made a record of winning the most medals in its Olympic history with 1 gold and 2 bronze. Before this, India had won two medals each in the years 1900 and 1952. However, this record was also broken in the 2012 London Olympics, in which Indian athletes won a total of 6 medals with 2 silver and 4 bronze.

India had won three medals in the Beijing Olympics.

Abhinav Bindra was the hero

Beijing Olympics was won by Abhinav Bindra. He emerged as India's hero. He opened the medal account for India in this Olympics. He became the darling of the whole country by winning the gold medal in 10 meter air rifle. Why wouldn't it be so, after all, India got the privilege of seeing a gold medal in Olympics after 28 years. Before this, the Indian hockey team had won the gold medal in 1980.

Bindra had earlier won two gold medals in Commonwealth Games, but he barely made it to the finals of the Beijing Olympics. However, he picked up speed as soon as he reached the finals. In the final, Abhinav Bindra scored at least 10 points in every shot and surpassed the final score of the 2004 gold medalist with a score of 700.5.

These athletes were close to the medal

Abhinav Bindra, Sushil Kumar and Vijender Singh, these three athletes became the poster boys of the Beijing Olympics and made a lot of headlines. However, there were some athletes who came close to winning medals but could not achieve them. Dola Banerjee, Bombayla Devi and Pranitha Vardheni of India's archery team reached the quarterfinals but could not make it to the semifinals. Apart from these, fellow Indian athletes Geeta Manjit Kaur, Seeni Jose, Chitra Soman and Mandeep Kaur could not qualify for the semifinals of 400 meters and relay race.

The quarterfinal became a nightmare

The quarterfinal match in Beijing Olympics proved fatal for many players. India's badminton star Saina Nehwal had displayed a brilliant game till the quarterfinal. Even in the quarterfinal, she started well, but despite this, she lost to Indonesia's Maria Kristin. Apart from her, boxer Jitendra Kumar and Akhil Kumar, shooter Gagan Narang and tennis pair Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes also lost in the quarterfinal.

Worst Olympics for Hockey

The Indian hockey team has dominated the Olympics. The hockey team has won the most medals for India in the Olympics. The Indian hockey team has won a total of 12 medals including 8 gold medals so far, but the Beijing Olympics proved to be the worst. For the first time in 80 years, the Indian team could not qualify for the Olympics.

Apart from this, India also faced a setback in weightlifting. After the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the Weightlifting Association had imposed a 2-year ban on Indian weightlifter Monika Devi accusing her of doping. Due to this, she could not even participate in the Olympics. On 9 August 2008, she got a clean chit in this case, but by then the weightlifting competition had ended.