The 30th Summer Olympics ended yesterday. It saw some amazing feats, truly in keeping with the motto of the Olympics: “Citius, Altius, Fortius” which is the Latin for “Faster, Higher, Stronger.” This was coined by Baron Pierre de Coubetin, the founder of the International Olympic Committee and the person considered to be the father of the modern Olympics. The London Olympics came to an end with the United States topping the medals tally with 104 medals including 46 gold medals. The People’s Republic of China was second with 87 medals, including 38 golds. India had its best Olympics so far with 6 medals, made up of 2 silvers and 4 bronze.India was in the 55th place out of the 79 countries which won medals in these Olympics.
What was encouraging was that India, which usually got one medal, and that too for a team game like hockey in the old days, now had medals in events as diverse as wrestling, shooting, women’s boxing and women’s badminton. The total of 6 medals, though admittedly very small when compared to the US or China represented a hundred percent increase as in the last Olympics at Beijing, India had finished with 3 medals. This augers very well for the future.
Some of the unforgettable moments of the London Olympics:
- Usain Bolt of Jamaica successfully defended the three Olympic titles he won four years ago in Beijing, becoming the first man to ever win back-to-back gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.
- Michael Phelps of the US bid farewell in an unmatched manner, winning four golds and two silvers in swimming to take his total medal tally to 22. No one has ever won so many medals in the history of the Olympic Games.
- Anchored by Bolt again, the Jamaicans set a world record in the prestigious 4×100 meters men’s relay.
- The US women made up for lapses in past Olympics by breaking the world record in the 4×100 meters relay for women.
The list goes on but very significant for us in India was the showing of Sushil Kumar who became the first Indian in history to win medals in successive Olympics. Having won a bronze in Beijing in 2008, he now won a silver to achieve this feat.
I am sure with the kind of performances our athletes have shown in these Olympics, we will do far better in the next Olympics slated for 2016 in Rio.
People at Work & Play 