Independence Day 2022: India's greatest sporting milestones which inspired billions

KD Jadhav was independent India's first individual medallist at the Olympics. He won the bronze medal in wrestling at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.

The legendary Milkha Singh is the only Indian athelete to have won gold medals in 400m sprint at both the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games. He won gold medals in the 1958 and the 1962 Asian Games.

Indian hockey team was a force to reckon with at the Olympics both pre and post the country's independence. After winning a hat-trick of gold medals pre independence, Indian men's hockey team went on to win five more gold medals at the Olympics post independence. India won gold medals at the 1948, 1952, 1956, 1964 and the 1980 Olympic Games.
 

The memorbale 1983 World Cup triumph will remain one of the greatest moments in the history of Indian cricket. Kapil Dev-led India headed into the tournament as underdogs and ended up staging a massive upset against the mighty West Indies in the final to script history. India won the final by 43 runs to lift their maiden World Cup trophy at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground in London.
 

India's greatest ever chess player Viswanathan Anand was the first from the country to become a grandmaster in 1988. An undisputed legend of the game, Anand won the World Chess Championships a staggering five times in 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2012.
 

Karnam Malleswari was the first Indian woman to win an individual medal at the Olympics. The legendary weightlifter won a bronze medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. It was India's second ever individual medal for India at the 2000 Olympics.

MS Dhoni announced his arrival at the world stage in style as a captain by leading India to a memorable triumph at the 2007 T20 World Cup, which was his first major tournament as the skipper of the national side. India defeated Pakistan by 5 runs in a thrilling final to win the inaugural edition of the tournament in South Africa.
 

Shooter Abhinav Bindra became the first Indian to win an individual Olympic gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Games. Bindra clinched the elusive gold in men's 10-meter air rifle event.
 

MS Dhoni-led Indian cricket team brought an end to the country's 28-year-long wait for a second ODI World Cup title in 2011. Gautam Gambhir and Dhoni played magnificent knocks of 98 and 91 runs respectively in the final as India thrashed Sri Lanka by six wickets at the Wankhede Stadium to lift the prestigious World Cup trophy.

Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu scripted history as she became the first Indian to win the badminton World Championships title in 2019. Sindhu, who is regarded as one of the best shuttlers in the present era, defeated Japan's Nozomi Okuhara in straight games in the women's singles final to clinch the elusive gold medal.

Neeraj Chopra became the cynosure of all eyes when the javeln star won India's first-ever Olympic gold medal in athletics at the Tokyo Games 2020. Chopra registered a massive throw of 87.58 in his second attempt in the men's javelin final to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. He is the first Asian to win a gold medal in javelin throw at the Olympics.