#5 Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav - Bronze in Freestyle Wrestling, 1952 Helsinki
While the hockey gold medal at the 1948 London Olympics was the first Olympic medal for independent India, the country had to wait for the next Olympics to get a medal in any individual sport.
Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav ended this wait by winning bronze in freestyle wrestling in the bantam weight category. The country gave him a hero’s welcome on his return. He was welcomed in grand fashion at his home town in Karad (Maharashtra) with dhols and bullock cart processions.
Also Read: Khashaba Jadhav – Independent India’s first individual Olympic medallist
It is interesting to note that KD, as he was commonly known, was initially overlooked for the Olympics squad and would not have made it to Helsinki had it not been for The Maharaja of Patiala; who was fond of wrestling and played a role in him being selected.
After KD wrote to the Maharaja, the king convinced the authorities to hold about again between Niranjan Das and KD. KD who had already won the previous two bouts against Das, won the third bout and got his ticket to Helsinki confirmed.
