Olympic medalists from India: Athlete, Year, Event

India made its debut at the Olympics in 1900 and has since then gone on to produce some brilliant performances both individually and in team over the last 12 decades. India first sent a team to the Summer Olympic Games in 1920 and has participated in every edition since then. India has also competed at several Winter Olympic Games with its debut in 1964. India has won 10 gold medals at the Olympics, with the men’s hockey team winning eight of them.

 India has won 35 medals across 24 Olympic Games, with new names announcing themselves on the big stage in the tournament. The first gold medal for India post-independence was won by the Indian hockey team as they beat hosts Great Britain 4-0 at London 1948. With new initiatives like Khelo India Programme, there has been an aim at improving the grassroot development of sport in the country to provide state-of-the-art facilities to young potential international athletes.

India did not have a good run at the Olympics in the 1980s – going without a single medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 1988 Seoul Olympics, which continued until the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. Tennis legend Leander Paes, ended the duck winning bronze in the men’s singles event at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, with weightlifter Karnam Malleswari becoming the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal with her bronze four years later.

The most- recent Tokyo Olympics saw a 126-member contingent at the event winning 7 medals in total. This was the highest medal-count at an Olympics event, with the next best coming 10 years ago at the 2012 London Olympics. With Paris 2024 already in sights, the Indian contingent continues to show promise and develop with more names expected to fight for the medals in two years time.

Olympic medalists from India: Athlete, Year, Event