5 Indian athletes who narrowly missed out on Olympic medals

India has amassed 20 medals in its Olympic history, which spans longer than a century. Athletes such as Abhinav Bindra, Sushil Kumar, Saina Nehwal have etched their name in Indian folklore with their Olympic success. However, there have also been some athletes who missed the chance to rewrite history by a whisker.From athletics to archery, Indians have frequently come close to announcing themselves on the world stage, but narrowly missed out.Here’s a look at five athletes who almost made it:

#1 Milkha Singh

Milkha Singh was so close to winning India’s only medal in athletics

The most famous athlete on the list, ‘the Flying Sikh’ as he is often referred to, was touted as having the potential to become India’s first ever individual Olympic gold medallist. But despite some stellar performances at the 1958 Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, where he won gold, Singh would go on to miss the Olympic medal by a fraction of a second.

His effort at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics was not one he would like to remember, but his form heading into the 1960 Rome Olympics kept Indians hoping for the best.

Singh finished second in both of his heats, just seconds behind eventual silver medallist Carl Kauffman. However, the Olympic dream was not to be as he was beaten to third place by South African Malcolm Spence by 1/10th of a second.

#2 Gurbachan Singh Randhawa

Randhawa (fourth from left)

Another Indian runner who missed out on Olympic glory was Gurbachan Singh Randhawa in the 110m hurdles category. Randhawa had started off as a decathlete but had to switch to hurdles because of a shoulder injury.

In 1964 (Tokyo), he finished second in the semi-finals to eventual silver medallist Anatoly Mikhailov. Randhawa qualified for the final based on being the fastest loser, but all he could manage was a fifth-place finish.

He finished with a timing of 14.07 seconds, almost half a second behind eventual winner American Hayes Jones.

#3 Limba Ram

Limba Ram put Indian archery on the International map

The archer represented India in three straight Olympics Games. Heading into the 1992 Barcelona Games, Ram was touted as the individual to beat in the tournament.

The previous year Ram had held the joint World Record with Japanese archer Takayoshi Matsuthista in the 30m segement. His form leading up to the Olympics made him a firm favourite to win the overall title.

However, he failed to live up to the expectations, scoring 336 points out of 360, and narrowly missing out on the bronze medal – by a solitary point.

#4 P T Usha

P T Usha was the closest to a medal

Probably the closest finish in Olympic history was when Indian athlete P T Usha missed out on the bronze medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Usha became the first ever Indian woman to reach the finals of an Olympic event after she comfortably won her 400m hurdles semi-finals. But a medal was not to be, as Romanian Cristeana Cojocaru would pip her to the line with a timing of 55.41 seconds.

Usha would go on to register a timing of 55.42 seconds. The gold medal would go to Morroccan Nawal El Moutawakel.

#5 T C Yohannan

T C Yohannan held the Asian record for 23 years

Yohanan’s biggest claim to fame is that held the national long jump record for almost 30 years. But his exploits were not restricted to just the national level.

The Kerala born athlete set an Asian record with a jump of 8.07m, a record that would stand for 23 years. The jump also secured the gold medal for him in the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran.

After announcing himself to the world, he headed into the 1976 Olympics exuding plenty of confidence. However, things didn’t go as planned, and Yohanan registered a jump of just 7.67m which was way below his Asian record.

The bronze medal was won by Frank Wartenberg, who registered a jump of 8.02m, which was also lesser than Yohannan’s Asian record.