What’s the story?
India’s athletes have once again done the country proud on the world stage after raking in 73 medals at the Special Winter Olympics which was held in Austria from the 18th to the 24th of March. The medal haul included 37 gold medals, 10 silver medals and 26 bronze medals.
The event, which is held every four years, like the Special Summer Olympics, has seven disciplines which include Alpine Skiing, Snow Boarding, Snow Shoeing, Figure Skating, Speed Skating, Floor Hockey, and Floor Ball.
In case you didn’t know...
The Special Olympics Bharat team represents the specially-abled athletes of India at the mega event. The delegation competed with over 2500 athletes from more than a 100 countries en-route to its impressive 73 medal haul.
The 73 medals are a marked improvement over the country’s previous record at the games. In the 2013 edition of the Special Winter Olympics held in PyeongChang, South Korea, the Indians managed a medal haul of 46 medals which was bettered by almost 30 medals in the 2017 edition.
The heart of the matter
Out of the 37 gold medals won by Indian athletes, 30 of them were won in a single day in the team events of Floor Hockey, Unified Floorball and Traditional Floorball. Winning 30 medals in a day was also a tournament record haul for most gold medals won in a single day. The women’s hockey team won bronze with a third place finish in their category.
Alpine Skiing also contributed to the Indian medal tally with 10 medals – three gold, three silver and four bronze medals. Athletes participating in Snowboarding won 8 medals while snowshoeing and speed and figure skating contributed nine medals to the Indian medal tally.
What’s next?
The triumphant Indians are set to return to the country on the 26th of March to what should be a warm welcome for the contingent. The chairman of the Special Olympics Bharat team, Air Marshal (Retd) Denzil Keelor summed up the feeling in the camp saying that winning a medal was a sight to behold for each athlete as they had put in a lot of hard work in the face of adversity to reach this level.
Author’s Take
Winning 73 medals at a tournament like the Olympics is no mean feat. These athletes should be celebrated and honoured for their achievements at the world stage in spite of their disabilities. As Air Marshall (Retd) Denzil Keelor said, this team of specially abled athletes truly embody what the SOB stood for – triumph in the face of adversity.
