5 unsung heroes who made India proud in 2015

2015 has been a great year for the Indian sporting landscape.The Indian Cricket team winning the Test series against South Africa and ending their 9 year away undefeated spell, Satnam Singh becoming the first Indian to enter the NBA, Sumit Nagal winning Wimbledon Juniors Championship, Shuttler Saina Nehwal becoming the first Indian Woman to achieve World No. 1 ranking and Sania Mirza becoming first Indian doubles World No.1.While these achievements garnered media attention, several athletes did not get the media spotlight which they deserved for their achievements.Many of these athletes overcame serious barriers, both infrastructural and financial to be able to succeed on the international stage. Several of them have had serious impediments in terms of their finances, physical limitations and a lack of coaching, but they overcame all the odds to win.On the eve of The 67th Republic Day, we look back at those unsung heroes who made India proud but remained unnoticed.Here are 5 unsung heroes who made every Indian proud in 2015:

#1 Deborah Herold becomes cycling World No 4

Deborah Herold aslo helped the Indian team to improve its world ranking to 13th

Indian cycling sensation Deborah Herold became the country's first female cyclist to finish fourth in the UCI (the sport's world governing body) individual world rankings following the release of the latest rankings for the 500m time trial event.

The 20-year-old, from Andaman and Nicobar, collected 211 points in the 500m time trial and secured 4th place in the ‘World Elite UCI Women Ranking.’

Prior to the recent Track Asia Cup held at the Indira Gandhi Stadium Complex Velodrome, she was ranked 10th, but after that success, she rose six places. At the three-day event last month, her three medals were critical to India's cycling contingent finishing at third place with 11 medals.

With Deborah’s brilliant performance in the Track Asia Cup last month, the Indian team has also improved its world ranking to 13th.