Google Doodle celebrates the 97th birth anniversary of Indian wrestler KD Jadhav | Trending

Google on Sunday celebrated the 97th birth anniversary of legendary Indian wrestler Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav, also known as Pocket Dynamo, with a doodle. The celebrated wrestler became independent India’s first athlete to clinch an Olympic medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki. The tribute on Google’s home page shows two sketches of the legendary wrestler. In one, Jadhav can be seen in a tactical position, while the other shows him wearing the Indian jersey.According to Google Doodle’s blog, the wrestler was born today in Maharashtra’s Goleshwar village in 1926. He inherited his athleticism from his father, who was also a wrestler and one of his village’s best, and started training with him. Following this, Jadhav shined at multiple competitions held at state and national levels. However, his first brush with an international competition was with the London Olympics in 1948, where he finished sixth, the highest-ever for an Indian wrestler at the time.After four years of relentless training, Jadhav participated in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and bested wrestlers from Germany, Mexico, and Canada. He later lost to the eventual title holder but won a bronze medal, becoming the first athlete from independent India to earn a medal. India celebrated Jadhav’s return with a parade of bullock carts that carried him through his hometown village.Take a look at today’s Google Doodle below:
Today’s #GoogleDoodle celebrates Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav and here’s why you should remember him ⬇️🥉 Was India’s first Olympic medal in an individual sport (wrestling)💪 Earned the nickname Pocket Dynamo for mastering the dhak techniqueके.डी.जाधव, तुम्हाला आमचा सलाम 🫡 pic.twitter.com/mkSlyIu3Mh— Google India (@GoogleIndia) January 15, 2023
Jadhav’s golden wrestling career unfortunately ended before the next Olympics due to his knee injury. He later worked as a police officer before retiring as an Assant Commissioner in 1983. He was posthumously awarded the Chhatrapati Puraskar in 1992-1993 the Government of Maharashtra for his contribution to wrestling. To honour his achievement, the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games’ wrestling venue was named after him.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Arfa Javaid is a journal working with the Hindustan Times’ Delhi team. She covers trending topics, human interest stories, and viral content online.
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