India at the Olympics

India first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, becoming the first Asian nation to do so. Norman Pritchard represented the country and won two medals, both silver, in athletics. The nation first sent a team to the Summer Olympic Games in 1920 and has participated in every Summer Games since then. India has competed at several Winter Olympic Games after its debut in 1964.
Indian athletes have won 41 medals, all at the Summer Games. At a period of time during the 1900s, the Indian men's field hockey team was dominant in the Olympic Games, winning eleven medals in twelve Olympics between 1928 and 1980 including eight gold medals of which six were won consecutively from 1928 to 1956. India's best performance happened at the 2020 Games, with seven medals including a gold and two silver.
India made its first appearance at the 1900 Summer Olympics as part of British India (1858-1947), becoming the first Asian nation to participate in the Olympic Games. A lone athlete Norman Pritchard represented the country and won two silver medals in athletics. India was classified 19th in the overall medal table, which represents its best placement till date. India did not compete in the next three Summer Olympic Games. At the behest of then Governor of Bombay George Lloyd, Indian businessman Dorabji Tata secured representation for British India at the International Olympic Committee, enabling it to independently participate in the 1920 Summer Olympics. India sent a contingent of six competitors including four athletes and two wrestlers with two support staff. The Indian Olympic movement was then established during the 1920s. In 1923, a provisional All India Olympic Committee was formed, and in February 1924, the All India Olympic Games (later National Games of India) were held to select a team for the 1924 Summer Olympics at Paris. The Indian delegation at the Paris Olympics consisted of 14 competitors including eight in athletics and four in tennis, led by team manager Harry Buck.
In 1927, the provisional Indian Olympic Committee was recognized by the International Olympic Committee and formally became the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). The organization was formed to promote the development of sports in India, host the national games, and select teams for the Olympics. For the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, it selected eight competitors, which included seven in athletics and one swimmer. The Indian Hockey Federation, which had been established earlier in 1925, sent the men's team to the 1928 Games. The hockey team won India's first gold medal in the Olympics at Amsterdam. This was the first gold medal won by any nation from Asia at the modern Olympic Games. For the 1932 Games, the Indian contingent consisted of the field hockey team and five athletes. For the subsequent 1936 Games, India sent a contingent consisting of the field hockey team and eight athletes, who competed in four sports. The only medals in the last two Games came from the Indian field hockey team, which won three consecutive gold medals from 1928 to 1936. The victory run included the largest victory margin in Olympics history after India defeated United States 24–1 in 1932 and the largest margin of victory in an Olympic final during the 8–1 defeat of Germany in the final in 1936.
India gained its independence in 1947, it sent its first contingent as an independent country for the 1948 Summer Olympics held at London. The Indian contingent consisted of 79 athletes, who competed across ten sports and included country's first participation in arts, boxing, cycling, football, and water polo events. The Indian field hockey team won the lone medal, a gold, which was the first medal for India as an independent nation. The 1952 Summer Olympics marked the first time India sent women competitors to the Games. The Indian contingent consisted of 64 competitors including four women with first time participants in gymnastics and shooting events. Wrestler K. D. Jadhav won a bronze medal, the first individual medal for independent India. India sent a contingent of 59 competitors for the 1956 Games at Melbourne and the only medal came from the Indian field hockey team, which won a then record sixth straight gold medal in a single event at the Games. The Indian contingent consisted of 45 competitors for the next Summer Olympics at Rome. The country won a single silver medal from field hockey after the team lost in the final, which was its first loss in the Olympic Games since the 1928.
India made its Winter Olympics debut at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck with Jeremy Bujakowski competing in the men's downhill event in alpine skiing. In the subsequent Summer Olympics held in Tokyo in the same year, India sent a contingent of 53 competitors including two participants for the diving event for the first time. The men's field hockey team won the gold medal, for the country's only medal at the Games.
In the 1968 Winter Olympics held in Grenoble, Bujakowski was again the only participant representing India. India sent its smallest delegation since independence, consisting of 25 athletes to the 1968 Summer Olympics at Mexico City. India did not participate in the four subsequent Winter Olympic Games from 1972 to 1984. In the 1972 Summer Olympics at Munich, 41 Indian athletes competed across seven sports including two competitors in the badminton for the first time. The only medals in the previous two Summer Olympics were the bronze medals won by the men's field hockey team. In 1976 Summer Olympics at Montreal, India entered 26 athletes, but failed to win a medal for the first time since 1924.
The Indian delegation for the 1980 Summer Olympics at Moscow consisted of 76 competitors, the second largest since independence with first time participants in the equestrian event. The only medal again came from the men's hockey team which won their record extending eighth Olympic gold in a single event. This was also the last time the Indian field hockey team won the gold medal at the Olympics. India sent 48, 46 and 52 athletes to the subsequent three Summer Olympics in 1984, 1988, and 1992 respectively, but failed to win a single medal across the three Olympic Games. In between, India returned to compete in the 1988 Winter Olympics after a gap of nearly 20 years. The Indian contingent consisted of three athletes including the first women participant Shailaja Kumar. The country entered two athletes to the 1992 Winter Olympics before missing the subsequent 1994 Winter Olympics. India entered 49 competitors across 13 events at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Tennis player Leander Paes won a bronze medal in the men's singles event for the country's first Olympic medal in nearly 16 years and became the first Indian individual medalist since 1952. India's lone participant in the subsequent 1998 Winter Olympics was Shiva Keshavan, who would become the Indian with most appearances in the Olympic Games after his sixth appearance in 2018.
The Indian contingent for the 2000 Sydney Olympics consisted of 65 athletes with athletes competing in the rowing event for the first time. The country's only medal was a bronze won by Karnam Malleswari in the women's 69 kg weightlifting event. It was the first Olympic medal won by an Indian woman. Keshavan was again the only competitor for India at the 2002 Winter Olympics. The Indian contingent for the 2004 Athens Olympics consisted of 73 athletes and the only medal came from shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who won the silver medal in men's double trap event. The Indian delegation for the 2006 Winter Olympics consisted of four athletes, two in alpine skiing, one in cross-country skiing, and one in luge. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Indian contingent of 57 athletes competed in 12 sports. India registered its best performance at the time, winning three medals in the event including a gold and two bronze medals. Abhinav Bindra became the first Indian individual gold medalist after his victory in the men's air rifle event. Vijender Singh and Sushil Kumar got the country's first Olympic medal in boxing and second medal in wrestling respectively. Three Indian athletes represented the country in the 2010 Winter Olympics at Vancouver.
The Indian contingent for the 2012 Summer Olympics consisted of 83 members, the highest till then. The country won six medals including two silver and four bronze, the highest count of medals as of then. Sushil Kumar won a silver medal to become the first Indian since independence with multiple individual Olympic medals. Shooter Vijay Kumar won the other silver medal in shooting. Amongst the bronze medalists, Saina Nehwal won India's first medal in badminton and boxer Mary Kom became the first Indian woman to win a medal in boxing. Other bronze medalists included shooter Gagan Narang and wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt. In December 2022, the Indian Olympic Association was suspended by the International Olympic Committee due to government interference in the autonomy of the country's National Olympic Committee (NOC). Due to the suspension, three Indian athletes entered the 2014 Winter Olympics as Independent Olympic Participants. The suspension was revoked when the games were underway and two competitors resumed the competition under the Indian flag.
For the 2016 Summer Olympics, India sent more than 100 athletes for the first time with 117 competitors. India won two medals including a silver and a bronze. Shuttler P. V. Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver medal and the youngest Indian woman medalist after she won a silver medal in badminton. Sakshi Malik became the first Indian female wrestler to win an Olympic medal with her bronze medal in the women's freestyle 58 kg category. Two Indian athletes represented the country in the 2018 Winter Olympics at PyeongChang.
India sent its largest delegation consisting of 119 athletes to the 2020 Summer Olympics. India registered its most successful performance in a single Games with seven medals including one gold, two silver and four bronze. Neeraj Chopra won India's first gold medal in athletics after his victory in the men's javelin throw event. In the women's 49 kg event, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu won India's first silver medal in weight lifting. Sindhu became the first Indian female athlete and the second Indian to win medals in consecutive Summer Games in individual events after she won a bronze in women's badminton. The men's field hockey team won a bronze medal to record their first Olympic medal since 1980.Ravi Kumar Dahiya won a silver medal in men's freestyle wrestling. Other bronze medalists included Lovlina Borgohain in women's boxing and Bajrang Punia in men's freestyle wrestling. India entered one male alpine skier, Arif Khan for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The Indian contingent for the 2024 Summer Olympics consisted of 110 competitors across 16 sports. India won six medals in total including one silver and five bronze, three of which came from the shooting events. Chopra won the only silver medal for India in the men's javelin throw event and became the first Indian individual medalist to have won a gold and silver at the Olympics. Manu Bhaker won two bronze medals including the first Indian medal at the Games in the air pistol event and another along with Sarabjot Singh in the mixed pistol team event. She became the first Indian since independence to win two medals in a single Olympics. Swapnil Kusale then won another bronze medal in shooting. The men's field hockey team won the bronze medal for the second consecutive Olympics. Aman Sehrawat won a bronze medal for India in the men's freestyle 57kg wrestling event to become the youngest Indian to win an Olympic medal.
Leading in the men's event at the Olympics with all 13 medals coming from the same. Combining men's and women's events, both India and the Netherlands have won eight gold medals each.
Here is the complete list of Indian medalists at the Olympics over the years.
The Indian Men's Field Hockey Team has won the most medals in the sport in the Olympic competition. The team has won 13 medals including eight gold medals of which six were won consecutively from 1928 to 1956.
The men's hockey team holds multiple Olympic records in the sport: