You’ve got to agree that 2018 has been the year of the female athletes – from surging participation numbers to smashing records – the women have been leading from the front. Here’s our round-up of the inspirational names that broke records, whose success will egg you on to progress toward your goals and not let the fitness resolutions lapse.
Hima Das
Hima Das during the victory ceremony for the women’s 400m athletics event during the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta on August, 2018. (Source: AFP)
Watching Hima Das is like magic – one moment she’s at the start of the line and the next – poof – disappeared, sprinted ahead. At the World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland, Hima hurtled into becoming the first Indian track athlete to ever win a gold medal in a global event. She clocked in 51:46secs in the Women’s 400m event for the gold. This girl is set to outrun everyone and there’s no doubt about it.
PV Sindhu
India’s badminton star PV Sindhu (Source: AFP)
Reaching the semi finals at the 2018 Asian Games, PV Sindhu became the first shuttler to bag a silver women’s single badminton final. And while that’s a record in itself, there’s more. After being the first ever Indian women’s singles player to even win a medal at the Badminton World Championships, this year, she surged on to be the first Indian to clinch the gold at BWF World Tour Finals 2018.
Mary Kom
Mary Kom gestures with her gold medal after her win during the 45-48 kg category final fight at the 2018 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi on November, 2018. (Source: AFP)
That Mary Kom continues to smash records is no surprise – the Manipuri boxer shows no signs of slowing down. And as proof, she’s punched her way into becoming the only woman to be the World Amateur Boxing champion for a record 6 times, and the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the 7 world championships.
Pincky Balhara and Malaprabha Jadhav
Kurash players Pincky Balhara and Malaprabha Jadhav (Source: IndiaTV)
India participated in Kurash – a form of wrestling that involves a towel – debuting in the Asian Games. The teenagers paid for their own kits to enter the games, and won. Pincky claimed the silver in 52kg category, while Malaprabha picked up a bronze in Under-52kg. Malaprabha now has the distinction of being the first Indian medallist in the sport.
Manika Batra
Manika Batra celebrates her victory during the women’s singles gold medal table tennis match against Singapore’s Mengyu Yu at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast on April, 2018. (Source: AFP)
Manika Batra has burst on to the scene, picking up medals and leading the team to unprecedented wins. She became first Indian female player to bag a Commonwealth table tennis individual gold in CWG 2018. It was a sweet victory – she beat three-time Olympic medallist and world No. 4 Tianwei Feng in the process.
Mirabai Chanu and Sanjita Chanu
Star weightlifters Mirabai Chanu (left) and Sanjita Chanu (Source: AFP)
Manipur rules the roost in weightlifting as proven by these young women. Mirabai Chanu (left) and Sanjita Chanu won gold in the 48kg and 53kg categories respectively, at CWG 2018. Mirabai set a record on snatch by pulling off a clean lift in all her three attempts on 80kg, 84kg and 86kg. Sanjita lifted 84kg to break the Games record.
Additionally, Swapna Barman became the first Indian heptathlete to win an Asian Games gold. Barman, who has 6 toes in both her feet Barman, did the country proud by scoring 6,026 points overall. Wrestler Vinesh Phogat too proved her mettle just like her wrestler cousins Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari. She beat her Japanese opponent with an undisputable margin of 6-2 in the 50kg freestyle in Asian Games.
