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While the next summer Olympics is still a year away and the frenzy of the games hasn't begun to make it's presence felt yet, here is something that will set the mood for the coming games. The following is a list of Indian sportspersons who, with their tremendous grit and determination, have already secured a berth for themselves in the prestigious Olympics to be held in 2016 at Rio, Brazil. Keep reading to know more about these heroes and cheer for them.
Inderjeet Singh
A shot putter par excellence, Inderjeet Singh has managed to reserve a spot for himself at the upcoming 2016 Rio Olympics in the shot put discipline. Hailing from Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar in the state of Punjab, Singh has been focussing on improving his skill in the field even in the face of tragedy. Despite his father’s tragic demise in 2007, Singh continued to concentrate on bettering his performance, practicing hard, and his efforts bore fruit when he bagged the silver medal at the 2013 Summer Universiade and a bronze medal at the 2014 Asian Games. There are high expectations from Singh for Rio.
Jitu Rai
The first Indian shooter to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics, Jitu Rai managed to secure a berth in the coming Summer Olympics to be held at Rio, Brazil when he performed impressively and won the sliver medal at the recent 51st Shooting World Championships held in Spain, in the men's 50 m pistol event. The Lucknow lad narrowly missed out on clinching the coveted gold medal at the event with a difference of a mere 1.2 points between his and the winner’s points. The 25 year old Army shooter is all set to make the country proud in Rio.
Apurvi Chandela
This fiesty young girl belonging to Udaipur, Rajasthan snagged a well-deserved and coveted spot in the 2016 Rio Olympics after she wowed crowds won the bronze medal at the in the 10 m air rifle event at the World Cup held in Changwon, South Korea. Chandela’s recent noteworthy conquests include a prized gold medal at the 2014 Commomnwealth Games in Glasgow and she has maintained that she can perform well, possibly repeating her Commonwealth feat, even in the upcoming Summer Olympics. She is the second Indian shooter to qualify for the prestigious event after Jitu Rai. India’s hopes are riding high on this talented shooter.
The Race Walkers' Trio
The three big names in the race walking front here in India, Khushbir Kaur, Manish Rawat and Sandeep Kumar have qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics after clocking impressive times at the IAAF Race Walking Challenge held at Rio Maior, Portugal. Kaur, who holds the national women's 20km walk record clocked 1:33:58, with the qualification time for Rio being 1:35; thereby securing a spot despite finishing 13th in the race. Rawat displayed a personal best, finishing in the top 10 and clocking a timing of 1:22:50 in the men's 20km race walk. The Rio qualification time was 1:24. Kumar, another national record holder in the 50km race walk also qualified for the 2016 Rio Games, finishing 14th with a time of 1:23:32. Get set to cheer for the Indian trio of race walkers at the Rio Olympics!
Men's Hockey Team
With a superb performance at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, the Indian mens Hocky team bagged the gold medal at the event, gaining a direct qualification to the 2016 Summer Games at Rio. This feat itself came as a welcome surprise, as the last time India managed to bag a gold at the Asian Games was all the way back in the year 1998. Defeating arch rivals Pakistan, the men in blue won the nerve-wracking match this time around, breaking the deadlock which seemed never-ending. The match had to be decided through a penalty shoot-out and the Indian team managed to block their opponents’ attempts at scoring impressively; the final score was 4-2.
All eyes will be on the team to make India proud.
Gagan Narang
Ace shooter Gagan Narang managed to secure a quota berth in the 2016 Summer Olympics after he bagged the bronze medal in the 50m Rifle Prone Event of the ISSF World Cup at Fort Benning in USA. Although he failed to qualify for the 10 m rifle event, he redeemed himself by managing this feat and became the third shooter to be representing India at the upcoming games, after Jitu Rai and Apurvi Chandela.
Narang had won the bronze medal in the 10 m rifle event itself at the 2012 London Olympics.
