SSC
Who was the first Indian woman to carry the national flag at the Olympics, in 1992?
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Answer: Option D — Shiny Abraham Wilson
Detailed Solution
Middle-distance runner Shiny Abraham Wilson carried the Indian flag at the opening ceremony of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in Spain. She was the first Indian woman to be the flag bearer at the Olympic Games.
More about Shiny Abraham Wilson:
- She was born on 8 May 1965 in Thodupuzha, Idukki district, Kerala.
- She specialised in the 800 m race.
- At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, she became the first Indian woman to reach the semi-final of an Olympic event, in the 800 m.
- She represented India at four Olympics (1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996).
- She won many medals at the Asian Championships and Asian Games, including a silver in the 800 m at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games and gold medals at the Asian Championships.
- She held the national record in the 800 m for many years.
- She received the Arjuna Award (1985) and the Padma Shri (1998).
- Her husband, Wilson Cherian, was a former Indian swimmer.
Women flag bearers for India at the Olympics:
- 1992 Barcelona: Shiny Abraham Wilson (first).
- 2004 Athens: Anju Bobby George.
- 2012 London: Sushil Kumar (male).
- 2020 Tokyo (2021): Mary Kom (with Manpreet Singh), the first time India had two flag bearers.
2024 Paris: P. V. Sindhu (with Achanta Sharath Kamal).
India's first-ever Olympic flag bearer was sprinter Purma Banerjee at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics.
Why not the other options?
- ✗T. Usha was a star athlete but was not India's first woman flag bearer.
- ✗Karnam Malleswari won a bronze in 2000 but was not a flag bearer in 1992.
- ✗Anju Bobby George carried the flag in 2004, after Shiny Wilson.
Quick tip
Remember: First Indian woman Olympic flag bearer = Shiny Abraham Wilson (1992 Barcelona, 800 m runner); first Indian flag bearer = Purma Banerjee (1920); Tokyo 2020 = Mary Kom and Manpreet Singh.
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Sports — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Sports, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers sports GK: major tournaments and their venues, trophies and cups associated with each sport, sports terms, the number of players in a team, sports awards in India, Olympic and Asian Games facts, and famous sportspersons and their achievements. Common questions ask which sport a trophy belongs to (such as the Durand Cup for football or the Ranji Trophy for cricket), which term is used in which sport, and where a tournament was held. Records and results change after every season, so pair static facts such as team sizes and terms with recent results from current affairs. Practise the sports questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.