Gurbachan Singh Randhawa

Olympics after Olympics, Indian athletics yearned for a medal. Any medal. When it finally landed, it wasn’t just a medal. Within minutes in Tokyo, Neeraj Chopra wiped away a decadeslong wait with one—or rather, two—magnificent throws that brought India its first medal in track and field at the Olympics, a gold. Welcome to the medals tally, India. It was a long time coming.

Before Chopra dazzled under the lights of Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium, Indian athletics has been a story of those who came agonizingly close to a medal at the Games, rising above and beyond their circumstances, a poor sporting culture and a barely running system. With each of their achievements, the past stars of Indian athletics have chipped away at one hurdle after another, inspired generations and marked a stepping stone towards more history in the years to come.

Think of the late Milkha Singh—to whom Chopra dedicated his Tokyo gold—and his memorable fourth-place run in the 400m final of the 1960 Rome Olympics, or of PT Usha turning into one of India’s biggest sporting icons. Think of Anju Bobby George becoming the first—and only, thus far—indian to win a medal at the World Championships on the back of injuries and a potentially career-ending medical condition.

Here is a look at some of the pioneers in the history of

Indian track and field.

The 1960s was not just about Milkha— Randhawa set fire to the tracks too.

A remarkably versatile athlete, Randhawa set four national records in succession—javelin, 110m hurdles, high jump and decathlon. Indian sports fans pinned their medal hopes on Randhawa at Tokyo 1964. He had entered the decathlon at 1960 Rome but given up due to a shoulder problem. In Tokyo, he eased through the early rounds in 110m hurdles before clocking 14 seconds to qualify for the final. He set a national record and finished fifth with 14.09 seconds. He was the first athlete to be awarded the Arjuna in 1961. later, she remains an icon.

She was already a leading sprinter when she took up the 400m hurdles, with the women’s event due to make its debut at the 1984

Los Angeles Olympics. Not a natural hurdler, she still became the best in Asia thanks to her power running. At LA, she won her semi-final heat, raising hopes that she would end

India’s wait for an Olympic medal from the track. She missed out on bronze in the final, pushed to fourth by one-100th of a second. Her national record of 55.42secs set on August 8, 1984 though is the oldest surviving women’s mark. Usha was the face of women’s athletics in Asia, winning 11 medals across five Asian Games. Her best came in 1986 Seoul, where she won four gold—200m, 400m, 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay—and the 100m silver.

Commonwealth Games of 2010. With a throw of 61.51m, Poonia became the first Indian woman to win an athletics gold at the Commonwealth Games, and the first from the country to win a CWG track and field gold since Milkha Singh in 1958. After failing to qualify for the final of the 2008 Beijing Games, Poonia made a significant improvement four years later in London by not only qualifying for the final but finishing sixth with a best throw of 63.62m. Poonia’s exploits are