New Delhi, Aug. 14 -- From dusty playgrounds to the grandest stages of global sport, India's journey since 1947 has been written with sweat, spirit, and unyielding dreams. In a country where sports have often carried the hopes of a billion, some victories have gone beyond the scoreboard; they have become national memories, etched in collective pride.

The Olympics have been the stage for some of India's most defining breakthroughs. In 1952 at Helsinki, wrestler KD Jadhav clinched bronze in the men's 57 kg freestyle wrestling category, becoming the first individual Olympic medalist for India after independence. Four years later, in Melbourne, the Indian men's hockey team, in a sport they had dominated for decades, won gold by defeating Pak...