sports

Nine-Year-Old Pooja Bishnoi went on a winning spree after 3 years of training. She now hopes for an Olympic Gold

In Jharkhand’s Simdega district, Benedict Kujur provides free hockey training to children from underprivileged backgrounds. 50 of his students have played at the state level.

The Indian contingent was one of only two national teams to not raise their arm as they marched past Hitler, a rare defiance made sweeter by the our hockey team beating Germany to win gold!

"The beauty about pole dancing is there are no prerequisites,” says certified pole dancer Aarifa Bhinderwala who holds classes for all age groups and body types in Mumbai

"My father and some relatives weren't very keen about me competing in weightlifting. They would say ‘you’ll break our bones, who would marry you’. But my mother stood firm", says the legendary Karnam Malleshwari. #WomensDay #SheDared

"Winning became so important that parents failed to consider their kid’s happiness. We need achievers but not at the cost of their childhood," says Sabari Karthik who now runs a sports enterprise to make sports accessible to school students.

Manju Rani was just 12 when she started boxing in a dusty ground in Haryana village. Seven years later, matched the heroics of her idol Mary Kom to reach the World Championships final on her debut!

From the man who swam across oceans of five continents in a year to the first captain of the Indian football team, on #NationalSportsDay, we salute 7 forgotten heroes who overcame major hurdles to bring glory to India.

"All my life I have only heard people stop me from doing things. Some, because I am a woman, and many more because I was on crutches. All I knew is that I could never let them dictate my life!", says the national-level wheelchair basketball champ. #WomenPower #DareToDream #RealLifeHeroine

Saikhom Mirabai Chanu was only 11 when she won her first-ever competitive gold medal.