More importantly, Karnam Malleswari was the first Indian woman athlete to win an Olympic medal in the year 2001.
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India is a country where men have dominated the sporting world. However, there are women who chose to challenge the ordinary and created a path for Indian sportspersons. Indian Sports has seen a huge increase in the number of its female athletes rising on the world stage since the turn of the millennium. One of the biggest moment in Indian sports was in Sydney in 2000 when Karnam Malleswari won the bronze medal. More importantly, she was the first Indian woman athlete to win an Olympic medal. This acted as an inspiration for many women athletes and brought the belief in them that they could bring pride to the nation as well and inspire the generation to come. In this article, we will take a look at a few of the female athletes who brought a change in the sporting arena through their contributions. Owing to this, they were rewarded with the stadiums or pavilions being named after them.
Sushma Verma, an Indian wicketkeeper batswoman added a significant achievement in her name. Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) named a pavilion after her of its newly opened cricket stadium in her home district Shimla. Sushma was born in Shimla. She was the first cricketer from Himachal Pradesh to represent India in international cricket. She is a right-hand batswoman and wicketkeeper. Sushma made her first appearance in the Indian cricket team in the 2014 England tour. She is also one of the best wicketkeepers in India. The pavilion was named after her on 1 July 2017 by former HPCA president Anurag Thakur. The naming of the pavilion after an Indian women athlete will act as an encouragement and motivate the other upcoming future players. This will add a note in their mind that if they work harder and perform at their level best then they could be the next one to be named.
Rani Rampal Indian hockey star has become the first Indian women athlete in sports to have a stadium named after her name in Rae Bareli. The MCF Rae Bareli Stadium has renamed the hockey playing arena as the ‘Rani’s Girls Hockey Turf’. She shared the pictures on social media, where she was seen interacting with staff members and players. She expressed herself on Twitter,” Words seem too less to express my happiness and gratitude as I share that the MCF (Modern Coach Factory) Raebareli has renamed the hockey stadium to Rani’s Girls Hockey Turf to honor my contribution to hockey.” Rani Rampal has also received a Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna and Padma Shri award. She was born in Haryana and started hockey at the age of 6.
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Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) of Odisha has honored Dutee Chand by naming a stadium after her. She was given this honor after her performance at the Tokyo Summer Games 2020 for India. The synthetic athletics stadium on the campus was named ‘Dutee Chand Stadium’. Dutee Chand has been associated with KIIT for a long time, She was a student at KIIT School of Law. Dutee was the first woman in India to win the gold medal in the World University Games representing this university. She also secured two silver medals in the Asian Games.
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