We are celebrating the one year anniversary of Sakshi Malik's bronze medal, Dipa Karmakar's perfect produnova vault and PV Sindhu's historical silver medal at the Rio Olympics 2016. Fast forward to 2017 and we have an unique set of Indian athletes keeping the nation's flag flying higher in sports.
The World Dwarf Games 2017 took place earlier this month for over a week in Ontario, Canada, and the Indians participating in the event, bagged a total of 37 medals, which includes 15 golds. Whoever said dwarfism and being short is the end of the world!
Ask Peter Dinklage, in that case.
The Indian athletes were given a warm reception by Dinesh Bhatia, the Indian Consul General to Toronto, Canada, on August 15 during India's Independence Day celebrations. A total of 24 countries participated in the sports meet.
Although India's medal haul was their best ever in the history of World Dwarf Games, the likes of United States (293 medals - 116 golds), Great Britain (201 medals - 80 golds) and hosts Canada (105 medals - 41 golds) stole attention.
India won 14 golds, 10 silvers and 12 bronzes.
Wonderful effort by Team India. Standing tall with 37 medals(15 gold)at World Dwarf Games known as'Olympics of little people'held in Toronto pic.twitter.com/04R5J1mkct
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) August 17, 2017
The Indian contingent participating in the #WorldDwarfGames in Canada secured a commendable tally of 37 medals. pic.twitter.com/65oDFsgBoi
— ApnaGujarat (@apnagujaratnews) August 17, 2017
Quick facts to know about the Indian winners and their journey
- Joby Matthew bagged a total of six medals (two golds, three silvers and a bronze) from World Dwarf Games 2017. He participated in badminton doubles, badminton singles, shot put, javelin, discus throw, and power-lifting.
- CV Rajanna won the gold medal in the men's 200m race as well as two other golds.
- Devappa More won the gold medal in the men's 100m race.
- Arunachalam Nalini bagged a total of five medals, which includes one gold.
- The coach and manager of the Indian contingent is Shivananda Gunjal.
- The Indian contingent's journey to the World Dwarf Games 2017 has not been easy. According to a Hindustan Times report, the majority of the athletes took loans to arrange their travel. Also, after reaching Canada, they sought assistance via Facebook to afford the hotel rooms.
- "We have no support from the central government or state governments or any sponsors," said Rajanna.
- The Sringeri Vidya Bharati Foundation, a NGO in Canada, arranged the accommodation for the athletes. The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) also provided free subway rides for the athletes.
