Forgotten Khashaba Jadhav

While browsing the net, especially on Abhinav Bindra's Olympic feat, i happened to read an article on Khashaba Jadhav, independent India's first individual Olympic medal winner. He won a bronze medal in the bantam weight category of wrestling in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. It is shocking to see the contrast between Jadhav's victory and Abhinav's victory. The article was written by Rod Gilmour in his blog for the Telegraph, UK. khashaba Jadhav's medal winning efforts at the Helsinki games must truely be a remarkable effort when compared to Abhinav Bhindra's gold medal winning effort at Beijing, considering the era in which Jadhav was competing and also the strata of society from which he came from. Truely, a remarkable feat.

Some more articles on him at Rediff.com and sify.com

Gold Medal for Abhinav

What a historic moment for India today. Shooter Abinav Bhindra's Gold Medal in Shooting must rank as the greatest sporting moment of India till date. What a day it was today. I was just about to leave for office at around 9.20 am. Suddenly, the Shooting Finals event was being telecast live on DD-Sports. Just before that, i knew that Abhinav was placed at the 4th spot with a score of 596. I watched with bated breath as Abhinav started moving up from 4th position to 1st slowly but surely with consummate ease. The tension was gripping. In the last round he was placed on joint first place with Henry Hakinen of Finland. I was just glued to the Television with the firm belief that come what may, barring a disaster, Abhinav should definitely be among the medals. I was just praying that he keeps his nerve and shoots a decent one. Suddenly, when I saw the Bullseye being hit, I jumped with joy knowing for sure that he won the Gold.

What a moment! I was lucky to have viewed the event live on TV. This man is made of nerves of steel. He just did not show any emotion at all after winning the event. What a world class performance. The whole nation salutes you son.

In the evening, when I was watching NDTV, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that NDTV Sports correspondent Anusuya Mathur could not control her tears, when she saw the Tricolor being hoisted for the first time in 28 years in Olympics. Truely, a great moment to be cherished for ever.