365 days, 52 weeks, a raging pandemic, thrilling Olympic and Paralympic Games, twenty-six medals across both, and countless tales of sporting glory and resurgence. It has been one of India's best-ever sporting years and we have the honour of crowing the best.
Here are ESPN India's Awards, 2021:
Athlete of the year, male: Neeraj Chopra
87.58 metres: The measure of greatness
Close your eyes for a moment and you can see it all again. Floppy hair tied in a bandana. Biceps rippling in a dark blue sleeveless T. The run-up, starting off at a light jog, increasing in ferocity before ending in an explosion of studied violence. The javelin soaring into the night, just going and going and going. The arms held aloft, index fingers pointing at the sky. The roar. The greatness. - Anirudh Menon
Athlete of the year, female: Mirabai Chanu
A titan with badass biceps and the widest smiles who just doesn't give up
Humara sapna poora ho gaya (Our dream has been fulfilled), the one with the silver medal spoke between snuffles. A nation three and a half hours away woke up to the Olympics and its new genial hero of badass biceps, widest smiles and a titanium will that just wouldn't give up. - Susan Ninan
Coach of the year: Sjoerd Marijne
Chak De Marijne: Coach of the year, coach in a generation
There were tears that followed but they should have been ones of pride in what the team had achieved. Under Marijne, they had gone from being no hopers - an afterthought almost for the federation - to one of the highlights of the Indian performance in Tokyo. - Jonathan Selvaraj
Para Athlete of the year: Avani Lekhara
Record breaker Avani Lekhara is just getting started
In a year that featured a litany of great para sports performances by Indians, there were plenty of strong contenders for the para athlete of 2021. While any of them would have been deserving, Avani Lekhara ultimately wins it for creating history and being a pathbreaker for Indian para shooting. - Mohit Shah
Team of the year: Indian women's hockey team
Indian women's hockey and their fourteen day tryst with immortality
Like 1983 inspired millions of kids to pick up cricket bats, 2021 inspired scores of girls to pick up hockey sticks. There will be a medal for the Indian women's hockey team in the years to come. When it does come, we'll know that it all started in an incredible fourteen-day spell in Tokyo. - Sunaadh Sagar
Emerging Athletes of the year: Avani Lekhara, Shaili Singh, Salima Tete
Avani, Shaili, Salima Tete shine in 2021, set standards for years to come
The three young women who made it to the final list were chosen on a simple principle... teen talent tested at the toughest of tournaments, promising performances that meant more for Indian sport than the result on paper. - Zenia D'Cunha
Match of the year: India vs Australia, women's hockey Olympic quarterfinal
2021 did give us plenty of stellar matches, but there shouldn't be much debate about the winner. Even if this game didn't result in a medal, in the larger scheme of things, a medal was not needed to validate the team's sensational achievement - Anish Anand