India’s Olympic Medals History – Tokyo Olympics: A look at all medals won by India at Olympics – The first modern Olympics started in 1896 in Athens, Greece, and it took only four years for India to have its name etched on the Olympics medal table when India sent out lone athletes to the 1900 Paris Olympics. Since the 1920 games, has India been a regular feature at the Olympics. However, it was not till 1928 when they saw their next medal in the Olympics, and from there, the dominance of Indian Hockey started to kick in.
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India’s Olympic Medals History: As Tokyo Olympics ready to roll, a look at all medals won by India at Olympics
India has won a total of 28 medals in the Olympics, including both pre-independence and post-independence. Let’s look at each, and every medal won by India
1900 Paris Olympics
Norman Pritchard was the lone athlete from India at the 1900 Paris Olympics. He didn’t win one but two silver medals in athletic competitions, 200m and 200m hurdles. There is a debate surrounding who is the first Indian to win an Olympic medal, should it be before independence or after-independent. Putting all those doubts to rest, the Indian Olympic committee recognises him as the first Indian to win an Olympic medal.
1928 Amsterdam Olympics
India had to wait for another 28 years to win their next Olympic medal. This time there started a legacy that almost lasted for half a century. Indian hockey team consisting of both British and Indian won its first Olympic gold medal at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. Dhyan Chand ended as the top scorer of the tournament with 14 goals.
1932 Los Angeles Olympics
The record for most goals scored and most considerable win margin of 24-1 against USA is such a record that still stands today. The Indian hockey team won the successive gold medal in this edition by scoring 44 goals in the three matches they played.
1936 Berlin Olympics
The 1936 Berlin Olympics is a special one for Indian Hockey as they completed their hat-trick of gold medals. At this Olympics, Hitler got impressed by the skills of Dhyan Chand and offered him a place in the German Army.
1948 London Olympics
After World war II, Olympics was back on its feet, and this was India’s debut as an independent nation. The finals of the hockey tournament was an exciting one as India was up against their former colonisers, Great Britain. India dominated the whole game and defeated Great Britain 4-0, which gave them their fourth Gold in this sport and the country’s restoration of pride.
India’s Olympic Medals History: As Tokyo Olympics ready to roll, a look at all medals won by India at Olympics
1952 Helsinki Olympics
It took nearly 50 years for India to win an individual Olympic medal again. This time it came in the form of wrestler Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav, who won a bronze medal in the freestyle bantamweight category. This medal is regarded as the first individual medal for Independent India. The second medal came up in Hockey as India defeated the Netherlands in the finals by a margin of 6-1. In total, India won two medals in the Olympics.
1956 Melbourne Olympics
Indian hockey team won its sixth gold medal in a row at this Olympics. There was stiff competition from the Pakistan side in this Olympics, who were also equally strong, but India edged out the arch-rivals in the finals with a score of 1-0.
1960 Rome Olympics
After six successive gold medals in Hockey for India, this Olympics was a speed breaker. For the first time in their history, India had to settle for silver at the Rome Olympics. After wins against Australia and Great Britain, India set up a final clash against arch-rivals Pakistan in which they lost to them by a score of 0-1.
1964 Tokyo Olympics
It was the third time the World would be witnessing the Indo-Pak final in hockey at the Olympics. This time the result was different as India defeated Pakistan by a score of 1-0. The gold medal in this Olympics was India’s eighth Olympic medal in hockey.
1968 Mexico Olympic
The Indian hockey was in a rude shock when they settled for the bronze medal in this Olympics. In the semi-finals, India lost out to Australia in the extra time and settled for a bronze medal match against West Germany.
India’s Olympic Medals History: As Tokyo Olympics ready to roll, a look at all medals won by India at Olympics
1972 Munich Olympics
It was the second time in a row Indian hockey team had to settle for the bronze. Pakistan was again in India’s way, this time not in the finals but in the semi-final where Pakistan defeated India with a score of 2-0.
1980 Montreal Olympics
This was the last time that the Indian hockey team won a medal at the Olympics, and it was one of the inexperienced teams compared to previous teams. It was easy for India in group stages, but the real test came in the finals when they were about to face Spain. It was a very close final with a difference of only one goal between the two countries. Indian hockey team won its 8th gold medal at this Olympics.
1996 Athens Olympics
India had to wait for 44 years to claim another individual Olympic medal. Leander Paes, playing in singles, lost out to Andre Agassi in the Semi-finals and settled for the bronze after defeating Fernando Meligeni in the bronze medal match.
2000 Sydney Olympics
Karnam Malleshwari became the third individual medal winner and the first-ever Indian woman to win an Olympic medal at this Olympics. She won a bronze medal by lifting a total of 24O kg in the 69kg category of women’s weightlifting.
2004 Athens Olympics
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is independent India’s first individual silver medallist. He finished second in the double trap shooting event with a score of 179 at the Athens Olympics. The score of 179 was just one above the third-placed shooter.
India’s Olympic Medals History: As Tokyo Olympics ready to roll, a look at all medals won by India at Olympics
2008 Beijing Olympics
Shooting
In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Abhinav Bindra became India’s first-ever individual gold medallist. He took first place in the 10m air rifle event with a score of 700.5.
Boxing
Vijender Singh became the first Indian boxer to win an individual Olympic medal. He won a bronze medal in the middleweight category after losing to Emile Correa of Cuba by a score of 5-8.
Wrestling
Sushil Kumar brought India its second Olympic medal in wrestling. He won bronze by going through repechage and then defeated Leonid Spridonov in the semi-final by a score of 3-1.
2012 London Olympics
Shooting
- Vijay Kumar won a silver medal in the 25m rapid-fire event. In this event, he came second with a score of 293 and a point average of 9.767.
- Gagan Narang won a bronze medal in the 10m air rifle event. He finished with a score of 701.1, which was precisely one point behind the gold medal winner
Wrestling
- In the 2012 London Olympics, Sushil Kumar became the first Indian to win two individual Olympics medals. He lost in the closely fought bout against Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu in the men’s freestyle 66kg final.
- Yogeshwar Dutt was another wrestler who won bronze medal in this Olympics. He also went through repechage and took down his semi-final opponent in a span of 62 seconds.
Badminton
In this Olympics, Saina Nehwal became the first Indian badminton player to win an Olympic medal. She lost to top-seed Wang Yigan in straight sets in the semi-final and managed to win the bronze medal match comfortably after her opponent got injured.
Boxing
Former five-time world champion MC Mary Kom won a bronze medal in this Olympics. She lost in the semi-finals to Nicola Adams by a score of 6-11.
2016 Rio Olympics
Badminton
P.V. Sindhu won a silver medal in women’s singles at this Olympics and became the first Indian woman to win a silver medal. In the final clash against Marin, it all started well with Sindhu winning the first set 21-9, but Marin came back strongly in the next two 21-12, 21-15.
Wrestling
Sakshi Malik won a bronze medal in the women’s freestyle 58kg category at the Olympics. She lost in the quarterfinal but reached the semi-finals through the repechage. In the semi-finals, she was trailing by a score of 0-5 but made a brilliant comeback and won 8-5 to seal the bout.
India’s Olympic Medals History: As Tokyo Olympics ready to roll, a look at all medals won by India at Olympics
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