Indian wrestler Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav celebrated his 97th birthday on January 15 with a Google Doodle. Jadhav became the first athlete from an independent India to win an Olympic medal. He is known as the “pocket dynamo.”
His most notable accomplishment was winning a bronze medal in wrestling at the Helsinki Summer Olympics in 1952 as an Indian athlete named Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav. As the first individual athlete from an independent India to win an Olympic medal, Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav was the first individual athlete from an independent India to win an Olympic medal since Norman Pritchard, who won two silver medals as a colonial Indian in 1900.
Until Khashaba, India’s only gold medal came from field hockey. There is only one medalist from India who did not receive a Padma Award, Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav. Khashaba distinguished himself from other wrestlers of his era by being incredibly quick on his feet. Rees Gardner, an English coach, noticed this quality in Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav and worked with him before the 1948 Olympics. Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav was a native of Karad’s nearby Goleshwar village.In 2000, he received the Arjuna Award posthumously in recognition of his contributions to wrestling.
In the arena, the biggest wrestlers in the world were terrified of K Djadhav when he entered the arena on 15 Jan 1926 from Gopeshwar village. In addition to being one of the ideals for India, he was also one of the ideals for the whole world. He won a medal at the 1952 Summer Olympic Games and he won the Olympic Games in Helsinki.
The day of the birth of Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav is celebrated as the Google Doodle Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav Birth Anniversary, and K D Jadhav won the bronze medal after beating many competitors from Germany, Mexico, and Canada. He won many medals in wrestling and he led one of the major roles in sports of India.