India finally claims first medal of Games
India is home to nearly 1.3 billion people, or roughly one-sixth of the planet’s population, making it the second-mostpopulous country in the world. But you don’t get an Olympic medal for that.
Only China has more residents. The United States, for example, has nearly 900 million fewer people than India, while the United Kingdom, ranked 22nd worldwide in population, estimates its population at just over 65 million.
A quick look at the medal table at the Rio Games on Wednesday evening showed the USA leading all countries with 86 medals, followed by China with 52 and Britain with 50.
And where was India? One medal. Sakshi Malik won a bronze at 58 kilograms (128 pounds) in women’s wrestling Wednesday.
The country sent 123 athletes to the Summer Games, in sports ranging from archery to wrestling, and most likely expected more than a single medal by this point in the Olympics.
That places India barely ahead of the medal-less countries — in- cluding Chile, Mexico and, perhaps unsurprisingly, Iceland. India’s lone appearance on the medal podium is striking given the country’s substantial population base.
To be fair, the country has historically dealt with issues related to poverty, potentially shrinking its number of Olympic-level athletes; India estimated in 2012 that about one in five citizens was living in poverty. In addition, its most popular sport is cricket, which is not played in the Olympics.
Still, India does have 24 medals in its Olympic history, with most coming from a dominant field hockey team that won 11 medals between 1924 and 1980.
Only a handful of athletes remained to perhaps double India’s medal count in competition Thursday.
There’s P. V. Sindhu, who is battling for a medal in women’s badminton.
India also has three wrestlers left: Vinesh Phogat and Babita Kumari are not considered strong medal contenders on the women’s side, but Yogeshwar Dutt, who won bronze in the 60-kilogram (132-pound) freestyle event in the London Games, could sneak back on the podium.