International Women’s Day: PV Sindhu, Mithali Raj and other female athletes who made India proud
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, we look at some of the greatest female athletes India’s produced over the years
PV Sindhu arguably is India’s greatest female athlete of all time, having won two Olympic medals — a silver in Rio 2016 and a bronze in Tokyo 2020 — besides winning World Championships gold in 2019
Three-time Grand Slam doubles champion Sania Mirza has been a trailblazer for Indian women in tennis, becoming an overnight sensation after reaching the fourth round of the 2005 US Open single section
Not only was Mithali Raj a prolific run-scorer and finished as the leading run-scorer in Women’s ODIs, she also led the Indian team for more than a decade and oversaw the transformation of the Women in Blue
PT Usha earned the nickname “Queen of track and field” and was one of India’s biggest athletes in the 1980s, nearly winning bronze in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics besides winning multiple Asian Games gold
Long jumper Anju Bobby George holds the distinction of being the first Indian to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships, landing a bronze in Paris 2003
MC Mary Kom has been a trailblazer for women’s boxing in India, the Manipuri becoming the first Indian pugilist to win an Olympic medal with a bronze in London 2012 besides winning six world titles
Weightlifter Karnam Malleswari was the first Indian woman to win an individual Olympic medal with a bronze in Sydney 2000
Sakshi Malik, who recently announced her retirement from the sport, became the first Indian female wrestler to win an individual Olympic medal with a bronze in Rio 2016