Google Doodle Pays Tribute to Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav, India’s First Athlete To Win

Mr Jadhav earned a bronze medal, becoming the first medal winner from independent India.

Google on Sunday paid tribute to Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav, one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, with a special Doodle on his 97th birthday. Mr Jadhav is remembered for being independent India’s first individual athlete to win an Olympic medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. Paying homage to the celebrated wrestler, the doodle features his sketch showing him getting ready to attack his opponent.  

According to the Google doodle website, wrestler Khashaba Dadasheb Jadhav was born on this day in 1926 in the village of Goleshwar in Maharashtra. Mr Jadhav inherited his athleticism from his father, one of the village’s best wrestlers. Mr Jadhav, then 10 years old, began training with his father to become a wrestler after excelling as a swimmer and runner. Though he was only 5’5”, he was one of the best wrestlers at his high school because of his skilful approach and light feet. He was especially good at dhak-a wrestling moves where he held his opponent in a headlock before throwing him to the ground.  

Today’s #GoogleDoodle celebrates Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav and here’s why you should remember him ⬇️

🥉 Was India’s first Olympic medalist in an individual sport (wrestling)
💪 Earned the nickname Pocket Dynamo for mastering the dhak technique

के.डी.जाधव, तुम्हाला आमचा सलाम 🫡 pic.twitter.com/mkSlyIu3Mh

— Google India (@GoogleIndia) January 15, 2023

He also won multiple state and national titles. His continued success earned the attention of the Maharaj of Kolhapur, who decided to fund his participation in the 1948 Olympic Games in London. 

In his first Olympics, he was pitted against the best and most experienced flyweight wrestler at that time and despite being new to the international format, Mr Jadhav secured 6th place which was the highest position then for India. 

Unsatisfied with his performance, Mr Jadhav spent the next four years training harder than ever before. He moved up a weight class to bantamweight, which featured even more international wrestlers. At the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, he defeated wrestlers from Germany, Mexico, and Canada before losing to the eventual champion.  

Mr Jadhav earned a bronze medal, becoming the first medal winner from independent India.  

However, before the next Olympics, he injured his knee, which ended his wrestling career. He later worked as a police officer. The Maharashtra Government posthumously awarded him the Chhatrapati Puraskar in 1992-1993. The wrestling venue built for the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games was also named in his honour.