Iconic boxer MC Mary Kom and ace archer Deepika Kumari were told they need not say sorry after returning without medals while hockey player P R Sreejesh was asked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he has learnt Punjabi when he hosted the Tokyo-returned Olympians at his residence.
Parul Chaudhary became only the second Indian female athlete to qualify for the final of a track event at the World Athletics Championships.
Neeraj was all set to defend his title in Birmingham, but pulled out of the multi-sport event after his medical team advised a month's rest after MRI scan showed a minor injury.
A mix of interesting events, coupled with big, shocking results, in the sporting world, grabbed headlines last week. From Manchester United being stunned by Watford to lose their third consecutive match to Nico Rosberg taking the World Championship lead from Mercedes teammate and rival Lewis Hamilton by clinching the Singapore Grand Prix. The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games were brought to a close inside a packed Maracana Stadium on Sunday evening. Not before, we witnessed some enthralling action.
Sharad Kumar smashes continental record for gold in men's high jump
Athletes and officials from eight disciplines of archery, badminton, table tennis, hockey, judo, gymnastics, swimming and weightlifting landed in Tokyo
Deepa Malik became the first Indian woman para-athlete and the oldest to be conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award
Former India coach Anil Kumble is in the running for the Coach of the Year award in the inaugural edition of the Indian Sports Honours, instituted by the RP-SG Group in association with the foundation of skipper Virat Kohli.
PM Modi had also taken a review meeting to take stock of how the preparations of India's athletes are going
India sign off Paralympics with an unparalleled 19 medals: 5 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was left red-faced during Sunday's felicitation ceremony to award cash prize to Asian Games medallists as the parent body got multiple names wrong on the cheques and even missed out on one.
The man with the golden arm could surpass some, if not all, top cricketers -- the demigods who stand well above athletes from other disciplines in India
The Delhi Police on Friday registered two FIRs in connection with sexual harassment allegations levelled by women wrestlers against Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
The 19-year-old Indian junior world record holder did not attempt his fifth and final throws due to the injury and his first round effort of 83.80m fetched him a seventh place finish in a strong eight-man field in Zurich on Thursday.
Confined to their hostel rooms at NIS Patiala amid the coronavirus-forced lockdown, some athletes, led by star sprinter Hima Das, have requested the sports ministry to allow them to train outdoors within the campus, which is out of bounds for outsiders right now. Deputy chief national athletics coach Radhakrishnan Nair, who is supporting the move, said that the Hima-led campers at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) are expecting a reply from the ministry in a day or two.
'...because when the flag goes higher, and the National Anthem is played, that's the best feeling you have.'
Javelin thrower Shivpal Singh makes cut for World Championships
'The athletes who are there in SAI Bengaluru and Patiala will continue to remain there'
Asian Games gold medal-winning javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Tuesday donated a total of Rs 3 lakh to the central and Haryana state relief funds to combat the coronavirus pandemic in India. Chopra is currently in self-isolation at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala after flying back from a training trip in Turkey.
The 36-year-old Jhajharia, who is the first Indian to win two Paralympic gold medals, was the first choice of the awards selection committee.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unfurl the national flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Sunday to celebrate the country's 75th Independence Day and two Mi-17 1V helicopters of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will shower flower petals at the venue for the first time ever.
Just being able to compete again is bigger relief for Neeraj Chopra than booking an Olympic berth, and the star javelin thrower says his comeback after a lengthy injury lay-off has given him hope that the hard times are well and truly over. Chopra qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with a throw of 87.86m at the ACNE League meeting at Potchefstroom on Tuesday, after missing the entire 2019 season following a surgery on his elbow.
'Didn't realise was flanked by Chinese and Pakistani athletes on victory podium'
Well aware of their preparations and formative years, Modi's conversations touched upon the making of their success stories and also some fun queries like the one posed to world champion P V Sindhu.
With the two silver and one bronze on Tuesday, India stood fourth in the medal tally with two gold, five silver and six bronze at the end of the third and penultimate day.
Desai, a former gold medallist at the Fazza Championships, led from start to finish to end the race in 24.42 seconds, ahead of Thailand's Denpoom Kotcharang (25.78 sec) and Kenneth Jenssen Heggdal of Norway (27.08 sec).
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra returned to winning ways in the men's javelin following his silver at the World Championships last month. His effort of 89.08 metres with his first throw was enough for gold at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne on Friday.
"The unfair and discriminatory" rules have drawn sharp criticism from the Indian Olympic Association, which has written to the Games' organising committee requesting it to ensure that mechanisms to prevent COVID-19 do not have any "adverse and detrimental impact" on performance of athletes.
Liu Xiang reduced his fans to tears in his home Shanghai Stadium on Sunday as China's finest athlete was given a fittingly heartfelt send-off.
"I feel very good now, because everyone is a little tired after the World Championships. We gave our 100 per cent there (in Budapest), but for this competition here my focus was to just stay healthy, and we have to focus now for Eugene (Diamond League finals on September 17) and then the (Hangzhou) Asian Games (from September 23).
'90 is not impossible because if I am getting close, I can go beyond 90, maybe 92 or 93.' 'My main focus will be to first cross the 90 mark and then stay consistent in that score.'
World champion and season leader Anderson Peters of Grenada won the competition with a best throw of 90.31m which he came up with in this third attempt.
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra's obsessive pursuit of excellence and a new-found sprint sensation in Hima Das gave Indian athletics audacious Olympic hopes but familiar dope shame kept things in perspective in an eventful 2018.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
Shooter Avani Lekhara scripted history on Monday as she became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Paralympics, firing her way to the top of the podium in the R-2 women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event in Tokyo.
Sreeshankar was expected to at least qualify for the final round but form deserted him when it mattered the most on Wednesday.
Infuriated over Khel Ratna snub Paralympian Deepa Malik gets Haryana CM backing 'And I am not lobbying for it. Lobbying is when you try to influence people before the committee sits and decide. When I found my name is not there, I wrote to the ministry, it's an appeal. I have got the backing of my state CM. Haryana is a sports conscious state. He (CM) also felt that I have been overlooked'
A summary of Saturday's Track and Field action at the Tokyo Olympics.
It is difficult to predict who among the Indians will reach the final
Triple jumper Arpinder Singh created history by becoming the first Indian to win a medal in the IAAF Continental Cup as he clinched a bronze but star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra finished sixth with a below-par show, in Ostrava, Czech Republic, on Sunday.
