Ahead of the impending Tokyo Olympics 2021, know the full list of all the Indian Olympic flag bearers till date
The country has over the years seen some illustrious athletes be serenaded with the opportunity to lead the Indian contingent at the Olympics.
List of Indian Olympic flag bearers
A flag bearer is supposed to carry the national flag of his/her country during the opening ceremony of both Summerย and Winter games. So below is a list of Indian flag bearers who have represented India in the marquee games till now:
1.ย Purma Bannerjee
She was the flag bearer during the 1920 Summer Olympics and represented India in the Athletics event, which was held in Antwerp, Belgium.
2. Lal Shah Bhokhari
He was the flag bearer during the 1932 Summer Olympics and represented India in the Field Hockey event, which was held in Los Angeles.
3. Major Dhyan Chand
Dhyan Chand was the flag bearer for the 1936 Summer Olympics and represented India in the Field Hockey event, which was held in Berlin.
4. Tallimerain Aao
He was the flag bearer during the 1948 Summer Olympics and represented India in the Football event, which was held in London.
5. Balbir Singh Sr
Singh was the flag bearer during the 1956 Summer Olympics and represented India in the Field Hockey event, which was held in Stockholm, Sweden.
6. Gurbachan Singh Randhawa
He was the flag bearer during the 1964 Summer Olympics and represented India in the Athletics event, which was held in Tokyo, Japan.
7. D.N. Devine Jones
Jones was the flag bearer during the 1972 Summer Olympics and represented India in the Boxing event, which was held in Munich, Germany.
8. Zafar Iqbal
He was the flag bearer during the 1984 Summer Olympics and he represented India in the field hockey event, which was held in Los Angeles.
9. Kishor Ratna
Ratna was the flag bearer during the 1988 Winter Olympics and represented India in the Alpine Skiing event, which was held in Alberta, Canada.
10. Kartar Dhillon Singh
He was the flag bearer during the 1988 Summer Olympics and represented India in the Wrestling event, which was held in Seoul, South Korea.
11. Shiny Abraham Wilson
Wilson was the flag bearer during the 1992 Summer Olympics and represented India in Athletics event, which was held in Barcelona, Spain.
12. Parghat Singh
He was the flag bearer during the 1996 Summer Olympics and represented India in Field Hockey event, which was held in Atlanta, Georgia.
13. Shiva Keshawan
Keshawan was the flag bearer during the 1998 Winter Olympics and represented India in the Luge event, which was held in Nagano, Japan.
14. Anju Bobby George
She was the flag bearer during the 2004 Summer Olympics and represented India in the Athletics event, which was held in Athens, Greece.
15. Neha Ahuja
Ahuja was the flag bearer during the 2006 Winter Olympics and represented India in the Alpine skiing event, which was held in Turin, Italy.
16. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore
He was the flag bearer during the 2008 Summer Olympics and represented India in the shooting event, which was held in Beijing.
17. Sushil Kumar
Kumar was the flag bearer during the 2012 Summer Olympics and represented India in Wrestling event, which was held in London.
18. Abhinav Bindra
He was the flag bearer during the 2016 Summer Olympics and represented India in the Shooting event, which was held in Rio de Janeiro.
19. Shiva Keshvan
Keshvan was the flag bearer during the 2018 Winter Olympics and represented India in the Luge event, which was held in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea.
How does an Indian athlete qualify to become a flag bearer for the Olympics?
The reason why Sindhu has been chosen as the majority to become one of the Indian flag bearers for the Tokyo Olympics is because she was the silver medal winner in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Generally there is no rule as to who will be selected to become the flag bearer but the notion has always been that any athlete who has won a medal in the previous edition, then he/she automatically becomes the flag bearer for the next edition.
Two Names In The Reckoning For India’s Tokyo Olympics 2021 Flag Bearer
This year, India is going to have two flag bearers during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics i.e., one male and one female athlete. The Olympics is slated to begin on July 23. It is not yet confirmed as to which male athlete will be the flag bearer for India during the opening ceremony but some some of the big names are athlete Neeraj Chopra, wrestler Bajrang Punia, table tennis player Sharath Kamal, and Boxer Amit Panghal.
During a recent interview with ANI sources from the IOA said, “We will be announcing the names on July 5. We have narrowed down on some names, which also needs sorting, both PV Sindhu and Bajrang Punia has majority, but it isn’t official yet. We will announce the final names by July 5.”
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