Tokyo 2020: 11 Female Olympic Medalists We All Should Know About
From struggling to train during the pandemic to battling financial crisis during childhood, these female sportspersons have proved that materialising dreams requires years of hard work and persistence.
Female Olympic Medalists: It has been raining medals on female athletes across the world owing to their exemplary performances in Tokyo Olympics 2020. From struggling to train during the pandemic to battling financial crisis during childhood, these female sportspersons have proved that materialising dreams requires years of hard work and persistence. Have a look at some of the most phenomenal victories by female athletes at Tokyo Olympics 2020 so far.
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Mirabai Chanu, India
Indian Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu clinched a silver medal in the women’s 49kg category. With this, she also gave India its first medal at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics after failing to lift 89kg in snatch. Meanwhile, China’s Zhihu Hou lifted 94kg to create an Olympic record and bag gold medal. Her prowess of lifting weights can be traced back to her childhood days when she would lift heavy bundle of firewood with utmost ease. Not only this, she would carry for two kilometres to take it home. Chanu comes from a very humble background. Her father works in the Public Works Department in Imphal as a lower level employee whereas her mother runs a small shop at their village. This Manipuri athlete was also presented with the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2018. Read more about her feat here.
2. Lovlina Borgohain, India
23-year-old boxer Lovlina Borgohain has assured India of its second medal at Olympics by winning women’s welterweight quarterfinal vs Chinese Taipei’s Nien Chin Chen. She is now only the second Indian female boxer after Mary Kom to win an Olympic medal and the first woman boxer from Assam to qualify for the Olympics. She hails from Golaghat in Assam. Her sisters are also kickboxers. Read more about her.
3. Jessica Fox, Australia
Canoeist Jessica Fox's Olympic victory is one of the most talked about victories so far. What makes it interesting is the fact that she credited a condom for her recent bronze and gold victory at Tokyo Olympics 2020. Confused? Well, she fixed her kayak using a condom by sliding it over the front of her kayak. “Bet you never knew condoms could be used for kayak repairs,” the 27-year-old captioned the video she has put out on Tiktok. This Australian athlete has been competing at the international level since 2008. She has also been the most successful paddler in World Championship history. Read more about her victory.
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🇦🇺 HISTORY MADE 🇦🇺
Jessica Fox becomes the first-ever GOLD MEDALIST in the Women's Slalom (C1) Final.
Momiji Nishiya is a 13-year-old Japanese girl who scripted history in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics by taking home the first women’s street skateboarding Olympic gold medal. With this, this child prodigy also became Japan’s youngest-ever gold medalist. Read more about her here.
5. Tatjana Schoenmaker, South Africa
South Africa's Tatjana Schoenmaker set a new world record to win gold in the final of the women's 200m breaststroke swimming event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. She timed 2 min 18.95 sec to break the record of 2:19.11 set by Denmark's Rikke Moller Pedersen in 2013. It made her the first female South African to clinch an Olympic gold in swimming since 1996.
20-year-old South Korean archer An San won two gold medals at the Olympics. An also broke a 25-year-old record last week by scoring 680 in the individual qualification round. She was, however, in news for other reasons also. Some South Korean social media users were attacking her for her short haircut. Many people called her a feminist, a term often used in South Korea to describe men hating people. Read more about this.
7. Yui Ohashi, Japan
Japanese Swimmer Yui Ohashi has won two gold medals in Tokyo Olympics 2020 till now - women's 200m and 400m individual medleys. With this feat, she is now the first Japanese woman to bag multiple gold medals at the same Olympics. In an interview, she had mentioned that she wanted to give up on swimming back in 2015 post her extreme anaemia diagnosis. Another reason was her disappointment with her average performance at national championships where she was placed 40th.
Japan's Yui Ohashi SWEEPS the IM events!
On her home turf, she captures gold in both the women's 200m and 400m individual medleys 🏅🏅 pic.twitter.com/B69qakqyHI
Carissa Moore from United States won the first ever gold medal in surfing as the sport made its debut at the Tokyo Olympics this year. Moore has been surfing since she was five years old. Her father is her inspiration. She always aspired to become a pro surfer. She was just 18 when she won a surfing world title. This made her the youngest person to win this.
9. Lydia Jacoby, USA
17-year-old swimmer Lydia Jacoby claimed gold in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke in Tokyo. She is now the first Alaskan native to win an Olympics gold in swimming. She was also the first swimmer from the state to ever make it to the US team. She had started swimming at the age of six as both her parents were licensed boat captains in Seward and spending time on water was a routine.
Hidilyn Diaz scripted history by becoming the first Olympic gold medalist from the Philippines. She clinched a medal in the women’s 55-kilogram category in weightlifting and also made an Olympic record by lifting a combined weight of 224 kg. She is the daughter of a tricycle driver and behind her victory is a story of determination and hard work. There was a time when her gym was shut due to the lockdown but she didn't let this handicap disrupt her routine. She trained with large water bottles attached to a bamboo pole. She used to hold the weight above her head and squatted to work on her core strength.
11. Valarie Allman, United States
She won a gold medal at Tokyo Olympics. She made her first throw at 68.98 metres and maintained her spot at the top. She was an accomplished dancer before switching her field to jumping and sprinting. She later specialised in the discus throw. She is just the third US woman to achieve gold medal in Discus Throw. The other two are Lillian Copeland (1932) and Stephanie Brown Trafton (2008).
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