India's champion athletes returned home to a rousing reception on Tuesday after their spectacular showing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
India won 22 gold medals at the Birmingham Games, 16 silver and 23 bronze to finish fourth in the medal standings behind Australia, England and Canada.
One of India's standout performers at the Games was steeplechaser Avinash Sable who beat a strong field of champion Kenyan athletes to win a silver medal and become the first Indian to win a medal in the 3000 metre steeplechase event.
Sable is the first non-Kenyan to win a steeplechase medal since 1994 at the Commonwealth Games.
On his way to the podium, he beat defending champion, 2016 Olympics gold medalist and World Championships bronze medallist Conseslus Kipruto.
A huge crowd gathered to welcome Sable at the Sports Authority of India's National Centres of Excellence in Bengaluru.
India's track and field athletes finished with eight medals -- 1 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze -- the best in CWG history outside the country and only second to the haul at the 2010 Games in Delhi.
Eldhose Paul and Abdullah Aboobacker's rare 1-2 finish in the triple jump will be cherished for a long time to come.
Tejaswin Shankar's bronze medal in the high jump was also a first for India while Murali Sreeshankar's silver in the long jump was the country's first since 1978.
Gold medallists Bajrang Punia and Deepak Punia were accorded a hero's welcome at the Indira Gandhi international airport in New Delhi.
It was a dominating showing by India's wrestlers who won medals in all the 12 events they competed in and that included six gold.
Olympic medallists Ravi Dahiya and Bajrang Punia eased to gold medals along with Deepak Punia, while Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat made roaring comebacks.
Vinesh became the first Indian woman wrestler to win three consecutive Commonwealth Games gold medals and the country, like the last edition, succeeded in winning medals in all 12 categories.
India's boxers also left a mark in the ring with seven medals -- three gold, one silver and three bronze -- from Birmingham, two less than the previous edition.
Nikhat Zareen added a Commonwealth Games light flyweight (50kg) title to her bulging trophy cabinet while Amit Panghal (51kg) began his redemption journey with a much-needed gold winning show and the young Nitu Ghanghas (48kg) too reigned supreme on her CWG debut.
