Bhubaneswar, October 7: India on Saturday scripted history as it finished its 19th Asian Games campaign with 107 medals. It included 28 gold, 38 silver, and 41 bronze medals.
In the morning, the country had etched its name in golden letters as it won the 100th medal, the first time ever such a performance put up by the country in the Asian Games.
Saturday is the penultimate day of the 19th Asian Games – India’s participation. This is the first ever century by India in the Asian Games. It was assured that it would cross the elusive three-figure mark in the medal tally after the medals won in wrestling, archery (recurve), hockey, sepaktakraw and bridge and medals confirmed by the men’s cricket and both kabaddi teams but the official stamp came on Saturday.
India started the day at 95, with eyes firm on the remaining 5 to reach the three-figure mark. As expected, four medals came in archery and another in kabaddi. Before this best-ever medal haul at the Asian Games, the previous best was at the last edition in Jakarta in 2018. India had then won 70 medals.
As history says, this is also only the second time India have won more than 100 medals in any of the three major Games – The Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. They had won 101 medals in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
That’s a quantum jump from two decades ago when India returned with 36 medals from the 2002 Busan Asian Games. In 2006 in Doha, India’s tally was 53 and four years later in Guangzhou it was 65. There was a slight drop at the 2014 Incheon Asiad, which fetched just 57 medals before India were back on track at Jakarta and Palembang with 70 medals five years ago, their best-ever tally then.
India has participated in the Asian Games since its inception in 1951. The Asian Games are a multi-sport event held every four years, featuring athletes from countries across Asia
India has hosted the Asian Games twice. The first time was in 1951 when the inaugural edition was held in New Delhi. The second time was in 1982 when the games returned to New Delhi.
India has traditionally performed well in sports like field hockey, wrestling, shooting, and athletics. Field hockey was particularly successful for India in the earlier editions of the Asian Games.
Over the years, many Indian athletes have made a mark in the Asian Games. Some of the notable athletes include P.T. Usha (track and field), Abhinav Bindra (shooting), Sushil Kumar (wrestling), Mary Kom (boxing), Neeraj Chopra and Kishore Jena (javelin) among others.
India’s participation in the Asian Games reflects its commitment to sports and its efforts to excel on the international stage. The performance of Indian athletes continues to evolve, and they strive to bring more glory to the country in each edition of the games.
