Divyakriti Singh: India's first woman winning Arjuna Award in Equestrian

In the heartlands of Rajasthan, in the midst of the capital city Jaipur, arose a name that made a mark on the annals of India’s sports history; Divyakriti Singh. This 23-year-old equestrian dynamo has secured a noteworthy Arjuna Award and earned her place as the first Indian woman to accomplish this feat in the domain of Equestrian.

She has since improved upon her Asian Games scores by winning an Individual Silver and two Bronze medals at the International Dressage Competition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last month, where she competed against stiff international competition and riders from all over the world. 

The President of India, Draupadi Murmu, handed over the coveted Arjuna Award to Divyakriti Singh at a sparkling ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Tuesday, denoting a crowning glory for the Asian Games Gold medallist in equestrian.

Divyakriti is the second woman from Rajasthan to get gold at the Asian Games after Rahi Sarnobat who won the first gold medal at the Asian Games winning a challenging 25-meter air pistol finals. She is an alumna of Ajmer's Mayo College Girls School and Jesus and Marry College, Delhi University. 

Divyakriti has gone through many personal difficulties while chasing her dream, which included the sale of her home. Her dad reportedly needed to sell their home when she was studying to fulfil the monetary needs that would assist Divyakriti with advancing her training in Equestrian dressage. Divyakriti has honed her skills and been consistent in her training as a result of the support from her parents.

She has been preparing at the Hof Kasselman dressage yard in Germany's Hagen city for the past three years. Divyakriti likewise bagged individual silver and two bronze medals at the International Dressage Competition in Saudi Arabia's Riyadh, which additionally assisted her with facilitating practice the abilities she had honed, just before the Asian Games event.

Equestrian is the extended umbrella term for the sport including riding on horseback. The Olympics characterises the game in three categories like dressage, eventing, and jumping also called show jumping. 

The game goes back as the ancient Olympic Games while chariot racing was one of the fundamental spectacles starting around 680 BC to the consideration of jumping, dressage and eventing in 1912 following the recovery of the modern Olympic Games in 1896, as per Fédération Equestre Internationale.