International women's day: 5 Indian Women who changed Indian sports

The achievements and awards shine bright on the newspaper and news channels but the journey towards it is not an easy job. In a country like India, the situation is not that simple for female athletes. Doing and contributing the same as men, yet getting paid lesser is an added problem. Female sportspersons not only lag behind in less payment but also less support. But they don't sit behind silently. They don't let these things kill their enthusiasm. On this occasion of International Women's Day, let's take a look at the five Indian women who not only changed Indian sports but also opened ways for the young generation to follow their passion.

Mary Kom

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Boxing as a career is still challenging today and the challenges increase when one is a female boxer. Breaking the notion and hurdles for years to reach New heights, Mary Kom became one of the most influential and inspirational sportspersons. The five-time World Amateur Boxing Champion, and the only female boxer to clinch medals in every of the 6 World Championships, Mary Kom paved the way throughout and changed how people perceived Indian sports for females. The Padma Bhushan awardee is also the first Indian female boxer to win a gold medal in the Asian games and she reached the landmark in 2014.

PV Sindhu

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Do you know who is the only Indian to clinch a silver medal in Olympics in the badminton sport?

At the age of only 2 years, PV Sindhu became the first Indian to win the silver medal in badminton at the Olympics. One of the most successful sportspersons of the country, she scripted records quite a few times in the Olympics. To begin with, she is India's first woman to win two Olympic gold medals and she achieved it in the Tokyo Olympics. In addition, she became the second Indian to achieve so. Furthermore from her teen years, she has been changing the notion and journey of a female sportsperson in India.

Rani Rampal

Representing the country only at the age of 15 is not at all a child's play. Rani Rampal is the youngest player of the Indian hockey team who participated in the 2010 World Cup. The captain of the Indian women's hockey team was honored with the Padma Shri in 2020. She also received the highest sporting honor of India, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award in 2020. The most significant breakthrough moment of her career was the Champions League tournament where she became the 'Top Goal Scorer" and also the "Young Player of the Tournament".

Mithali Raj

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Cricketers come and go but there are very few who established their name to such a great extent that they influence people throughout. One of such personalities is Mithali Raj. The captain of the Indian women's cricket team, Mithali took the team to the brightest heights. Be as a captain or as an individual player, her contribution has always been pivotal for the team. She is not only the highest run-scorer in women's cricket but also the only female cricketer who surpassed the mark of 6000 runs in ODIs. In fact, she is the only Indian captain to take the team to the world cup final twice. Very recently, she also joined Sachin Tendulkar for being one of the only two Indian cricketers to play 6 ODI World Cups.

Karnam Malleshwari

The first Indian woman to win a medal in the Olympics is Karnam Malleswari. The former weightlifter scripted history by winning the bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics in the women's 69 kg weightlifting category. The legendary sportsperson has put feathers in her hat with excellent performances at some of the world's top tournaments. She won the silver medal at the 1994 World Championships and followed it with a gold medal in the 1995 World Weightlifting Championships. Before making her way into the Olympic victory, Malleswari was already a two-time weightlifting world champion with a total of 29 International medals. In fact, 11 of these 29 medals were gold. The former weightlifter has also been awarded the Arjuna Award, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, and Padma Shri.