From Neeraj Chopra to Krishna Nagar: Olympic and Paralympic 'gold diggers' made India happy

Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won the historic gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 to lead India to its best-ever haul in the Olympics with seven medals — a gold, two silvers and four bronze medals. 

A similar streak was followed in the Tokyo Paralympic Games as the Indian contingent displayed a spectacular performance winning a total of 19 medals — five gold, eight silver, six bronze. 

This is India's best-ever Paralympics medal haul as it has eclipsed previous best medals tallies – four each at the Stoke Mandeville and New York Games in 1984 and Rio 2016. 

With five medals, the shooting contingent emerged as the biggest contributor, followed by high jump and badminton with four each. 

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All the medal winners and participants were an inspiration but there were some historic firsts. For example, Bhavina Patel became the first Indian table tennis player to win a Paralympic medal, Harvinder Singh's medal in archery was also exemplary, shooter Avani Lekhara stood out as she became the first Indian woman to win a Paralympic gold medal. 

As the cycle of Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics has ended, the entire nation is celebrating all the medal winners and participants. Some of the social media users have hailed the gold medallists as "gold diggers" in an absolutely and utterly positive way. 

Here's a quick look at all the gold winners from India at Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games 2020:

Tokyo Olympics 2020

Neeraj Chopra

Neeraj Chopra won India's first-ever individual Olympic gold medal in athletics at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Neeraj achieved the mark of 87.58 metres in the javelin throw final at the Olympic Stadium. 

He also became the only second Indian after shooter Abhinav Bindra to clinch a top podium finish at Olympics. 

Tokyo Paralympics 2020

Avani Lekhara

Avani Lekhara won a gold medal in the R-2 women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event on her debut at the Paralympic Games. She entered the history books after becoming the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in shooting at an Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

Avani shot a new Paralympic record of 249.6 in the women's 10m air rifle shooting and equalled the world record score in the category. The 19-year-old outclassed Cuiping Zhang of China and reigning world champion Iryna Shchetnik of Ukraine to win gold. 

"I'm so happy I could be the one to contribute it. Hopefully, there's a lot of medals more to come," Lekhara said after winning the elusive medal. 

And yes, there was as Avani went on to first Indian woman to win two Paralympics medals after she won a bronze in the women's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 category.

Sumit Antil

Sumit Antil produced a record-shattering performance as he thrice broke his own world record to win gold in the men's javelin throw F64 category. 

In his first attempt, Sumit threw 66.95m and created a world record only to break it again as he threw another record of 68.08m in his second attempt. He went on to create another world record and held the top spot with his best throw of 68.55 in his fifth attempt. 

"Neeraj Chopra's medal pressurised me to grab a medal in Olympic but he always motivated me by saying you are too strong and fit. Neeraj has played the biggest role in my achievement," Sumit told ANI.

Manish Narwal

The shooting contingent won two gold medals as Manish Narwal clinched the glory after Avani. He won the gold medal in men's 50m pistol SH1. 

The 19-year-old Manish created the Paralympic record as he amassed 218.2 points to claim the top spot on the podium.

Parmod Bhagat

Pramod Bhagat scripted history as he became the first-ever champion in the first-ever edition of para-badminton at the Paralympic Games. 

Pramod defeated Daniel Bethell of Great Britain in the men's singles SL3 category. 

Krishna Nagar

Another shuttler Krishna Nagar won a gold medal in men’s singles SH6 Badminton to wrap up up India's campaign at the Tokyo Paralympics. 

"This is a dream come true. I want to thank my father, mother, uncle, auntie, God, my coaches," said Nagar after winning India's fifth gold at the Games.

"This is the first time that badminton has been added to the Paralympics and I hope that India will keep winning and doing their best at upcoming Games."