Reliance Foundation athletes leave a lasting impression at Commonwealth Games
Mumbai, August 3
Reliance Foundation-supported athletes shone brightly in Glasgow, ending the Commonwealth Games with a haul of two silver and one bronze medal for a total tally of three medals.
What made the medals even more special was their historic nature. Sreeshankar Murali, Lovlina Borgohain and Tejaswin Shankar were the three Reliance Foundation-supported athletes who returned with a podium finish in Glasgow, according to a press release.
Sreeshankar repeated his silver-winning feat from the previous edition to continue his remarkable second coming after having had to miss the Paris Olympics because of a major knee injury. He's now the only Indian in history to win multiple long jump medals at the Commonwealth Games. He continued his super consistent streak of jumping beyond 8m in every competition this year.
Borgohain added to her burgeoning list of medals with a silver and became just the 3rd Indian boxer ever after Mary Kom and Vijender Singh to medal at the big four events: Olympics, World Championships, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. She suffered a close loss in a highly competitive final to Australia's Emma-Sue Greentree.
Tejaswin cemented his reputation as one of India's greatest athletes ever and arguably India's best all-round athlete with a bronze in the decathlon, India's first ever in the event.
He became the 1st Indian ever to medal in multiple disciplines at the Commonwealth Games, having also become the 1st Indian ever to win a high jump CWG medal in the previous edition in Birmingham. His exemplary grit and resilience stood out as he competed with taping on his knee after having to pull out from the high jump event earlier after just one failed jump.
Among the other Reliance Foundation-supported athletes who had a top eight finish were Aadarsh Ram (men's high jump) and Lokesh Sathyanathan (men's long jump), who both finished fifth, as well as Tejas Shirse (men's 110m hurdles) and Yashas Palaksha (men's 400m hurdles), who finished 8th in the finals.
Animesh Kujur also made the semifinals of the men's 200m event after beating Emmanuel Eseme, the 100m champion from Cameroon, to finish first in his heat in a creditable display.
With most of these athletes also in action at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya later this year, their displays here will leave them with a lot of confidence and learnings for another marquee multi-sport event.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Lovlina Borgohain joining Mary Kom and Vijender Singh in that elite list is massive. Boxing in India is on the rise, and these athletes deserve all the support and recognition they're getting. 🥊
Tejaswin Shankar's bronze in decathlon is historic! India's first ever, and he's now medaled in two different disciplines at CWG. The guy is a machine, competing with knee taping after pulling out of high jump. Respect. 🏃♂️
While the three medals are great, I wish our athletes got more opportunities and better facilities at the grassroots level. Private foundations like Reliance are helping, but government support needs to be stronger too. Just my honest opinion.
Impressive to see the depth in Indian athletics beyond just cricket. Finishing top 8 in multiple events shows they're building a solid team. Looking forward to seeing them at the Asian Games.
Animesh Kujur beating the 100m champion to top his 200m heat? That's a statement! The future of Indian sprinting looks bright. Hopefully, they get more exposure and international training.
Proud of all our athletes! It's not
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