DNA Explainer: How Haryana scripted its Olympics success story with most number of medals and athletes

Tokyo Olympics 2020 will be remembered in history for a long time for many reasons, the foremost being the first games to be played during the COVID-19 pandemic. But wait, not just that. Tokyo 2020 gave India many reasons to smile with heads held high in pride.

While India is yet to have its National Anthem moment, there have been several occasions where we got to the podium and our tricolour fluttered with pride. Yes, we got our share of medals and all thanks to the 127 athletes hailing from different states, who are representing the country and 135 crore Indians with pride.

The athletes are representing India in 18 different games being played at the Olympics including Archery, Athletics, Boxing, Badminton, Equestrian, Fencing, Golf, Gymnastics, Hockey, Judo, Rowing, Shooting, Sailing, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Weightlifting, and Wrestling.

But there is something particularly very striking to it. Athletes from Haryana and Punjab are once again leading from the front. Punjab and Haryana with just 4.4% of India's huge population, have together sent 50 athletes to the Tokyo Olympics 2020 Games, accounting for 40% of the Indian contingent.

Haryana has 31 athletes in the contingent, which is nearly 25% of the total, while Punjab has 19. Tamil Nadu has sent 11 athletes to Tokyo which is 8.7% of the contingent. This is followed by Kerala and Uttar Pradesh each with 8 athletes. The interesting part is that while UP is the largest state of India with nearly 17% of India's total population, it is contributing just 6.3% of the country's contingent at Tokyo 2020.

When compared to Kerala which has just 2.6% of the country's population is also contributing 6.3% of the country's contingent at Tokyo 2020, equalling that with the largest state of Uttar Pradesh. Five athletes from Manipur are also representing India, not to forget that it was Chanu Saikhom Mirabai from Manipur who won the first silver medal for India and set the momentum for Tokyo 2020.

The Haryana Wrestling Association is also affiliated to the Olympic association of Haryana and the Wrestling Federation of India.

Haryana and Olympics

Haryana is not just home to the most number of individual Olympic medal winners but has also sent the most number of participants, 31 athletes, in the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Before the Tokyo Olympics 2020 began, the data revealed that till the last Olympics, Indian individuals won 17 medals in the world's biggest sports tournament played every four years.

Among the 17 medal winners from 11 states, Haryana accounts for four - Vijender Singh, Saina Nehwal, Yogeshwar Dutt, Sakshi Malik all won after the 2008 Olympics.

Haryana is followed by West Bengal with three Olympic medals and Delhi with two Olympic medals, while participants from at least eight states have won one medal each.

With six players, four in hockey and two in wrestling, the Sonepat district has contributed to the most number of Olympians, followed by Kurukshetra and Jhajjar.

The two panchayats of Nahri and Nahra in the Sonepat district of Haryana are famed for producing wrestlers, as is almost every village in Sonepat.

The village is home to two Arjuna awardee wrestlers Satveer Singh and Mahavir Singh, and two Olympians Mahavir Singh (1980 Moscow) and Amit Kumar Dahiya (2012 London).

At 18, Amit Kumar Dahiya held the record of being the youngest Indian wrestler to have competed at the 2012 London Olympics.

Freestyle wrestler Ravi Dahiya (57kg) from Nahri village of Haryana won the silver medal in his first Olympic Games in Tokyo after losing to Russia's Zavur Uguev in the gold medal match by points.

From Haryana, nine players are part of the women's hockey team. Also, seven wrestlers of the contingent are from the state.