Full list of India’s Olympic medals: Who won, which event, which edition, details

India has won 28 medals in the Olympics, since first appearing at the Paris Games in 1900 during the pre-independence area.

Published : Jul 07, 2021 21:19 IST

A fierce obsession towards winning gold took Abhinav Bindra  to the top of the podium in Beijing in 2008.
A fierce obsession towards winning gold took Abhinav Bindra to the top of the podium in Beijing in 2008.
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A fierce obsession towards winning gold took Abhinav Bindra to the top of the podium in Beijing in 2008.

India's maiden appearance at the Summer Olympics came in 1900 and since then the country has won 28 medals at the quadrennial event, both in the individual as well as team events.

Sportstar takes a look at all the occasions when India ensured a podium finish at the quadrennial showpiece.

  • Norman Pritchard (Silver, Paris 1900, Men’s 200m) : Long before independence, India’s first Olympic medal came in athletics, courtesy British-Indian athlete Pritchard, who won a silver medal in the 200m category during the nation's maiden representation at the prestigious event.
  • Norman Pritchard (Silver, Paris 1900, Men’s 200m hurdles) Pritchard clinched yet another silver medal at the same edition, finishing second in the 200m hurdles. Pritchard's dual medals kept India seventh in the overall medal standings, at those games.
  • India (Gold, Amsterdam 1928, Men's field hockey ):  After a 28-year wait, India won its third medal at the Olympics, this time at a team event, where the men’s hockey team, led by Jaipal Singh Munda, clinched gold, beating Netherlands 3–0 in the final.
  • India (Gold, Los Angeles 1932, Men's field hockey):  Lal Shah Bokhari and Co. successfully defended India's gold medal, four years later, winning the top prize by beating Japan 11–1 in the final. 
  • India (Gold, Berlin 1936, Men's field hockey ):  A hat-trick of gold medals for the men’s hockey team was complete, as it trounced each team on its way to the final in 1936, defeating host Germany 8–1 in the summit clash.

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  • India (Gold, London 1948, Men's field hockey ):  With the globe disrupted by the Second World War, the Olympics did not happen for 12 years before it returned in 1948 in London, where India, then free from British rule and competing as an independent nation, won its fourth successive gold medal in men’s field hockey. Led by Kishan Lal, the side breezed its way through the group stage, beat the Netherlands 2–1 in the semifinal before overcoming host Great Britain 4–0 in the final to reclaim the title.
  • India (Gold, Helsinki 1952, Men's field hockey): Kunwar Digvijay Singh’s men defeated the the Netherlands 6–1 in the title clash to keep the gold rush going for the side at the quadrennial event.
  • KD Jadhav (Bronze, Helsinki 1952, Men’s freestyle bantamweight wrestling):  In each of the previous four editions, India returned home with just one medal. However, at the 1952 Helsinki Games, a second one came along courtesy Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav, who created history by becoming independent India's first-ever individual medallist, winning the bronze medal in the freestyle bantamweight wrestling category.

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  • India (Gold, Melbourne 1956, Men's field hockey): The Indian men continued to dominate in field hockey at the Olympics as its winning run extended to six in 1956, when the team led by Balbir Singh Sr., stood on top of the podium after beating Pakistan 1-0 in the final.
  • India (Silver, Rome 1960, Men's field hockey):  What maybe called the first blip in India's golden run at the Summer Games, the nation suffered its first defeat at an Olympic final in 1960, when it lost 1-0 to Pakistan.
  • India (Gold, Tokyo 1964, Men's field hockey):  India returned to winning ways in Tokyo after missing out on the gold in the Italian capital. The men's hockey team struck gold, defeating Pakistan 1-0 in the final, courtesy of a goal from Mohinder Lal.
  • India (Bronze, Mexico City 1968, Men's field hockey):  The first instance when India did not win either gold or silver in men's hockey was at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, when it came home with a bronze medal, after beating West Germany 2-1 in the playoff match.
  • India (Bronze, Munich 1972, Men's field hockey):  A second successive bronze medal followed, as the men's team beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the playoff. This squad also had Vece Paes, the father of arguably India's greatest Olympian Leander in it.
  • India (Gold, Moscow 1980, Men's field hockey):  For the first time since winning at the 1900 Olympics in Paris, India failed to stand on the podium in hockey at Montreal 1976. An eight-year winless run ended in 1980 at Moscow, when Vasudevan Bhaskaran's men won gold, beating Spain 1-0 in the final.

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The gold medal winning Indian men's hockey team. It remains the last time it stood on a podium at an Olympics.
 

  • Leander Peas (Bronze, Atlanta 1996, Men's tennis):  India's barren run came to a refreshing end after 16 long years, when Leander won the bronze medal at the 1996 Games, beating Brazil's Fernando Meligeni 7-6, 6-3 in the playoff match.
  • Karnam Malleswari (Bronze, Sydney 2000, Women's 69kg weightlifting):  Malleswari became India's first female Olympic medallist at the millennium Olympics in Sydney when she won bronze in weightlifting in the women's 69kg category. In an interview to Sportstar, she called it the ' the most memorable moment for me'.

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India's Karnam Malleswari (extreme right) on the podium after winning bronze at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

  • Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Silver, Athens 2004, Men's double trap):  India's first shooting medal at the Olympics came at the 2004 Athens Olympics, when Rathore won the silver medal in the men's double trap event.
  • Abhinav Bindra (Gold, Beijing 2008, Men's 10m Air Rifle):  On July 11, Bindra became the first-ever Indian athlete to win Gold in an individual event at the Olympics, bagging the yellow metal in the 10m Air Rifle event.
  • Sushil Kumar (Bronze, Beijing 2008, Men's 66kg freestyle wrestling):  A 56-year wait for a medal in wrestling ended in 2008, when Sushil won bronze in the 66kg freestyle event.
  • Vijender Singh (Bronze, Beijing 2008, Men's middleweight boxing):  Singh brought India more joy in contact sports in 2008, when he won the bronze medal in the boxing middleweight category.
  • Vijay Kumar (Silver, London 2012, Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol):  India's success in shooting carried forward from Beijing to London, where Vijay won the silver medal in men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event.
  • Gagan Narang (Bronze, London 2012, Men's 10m Air Rifle):  After Bindra's win at the 2008 Games, Narang won India's second Olympic medal in 10m air rifle at the 2012 Olympics.
  • Saina Nehwal (Bronze, London 2012, Women's singles badminton): 12 years after Malleswari became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal, Saina joined her on the list, winning the bronze in the women's singles event in badminton.
  • MC Mary Kom (Bronze, London 2012, Flyweight boxing): An already stellar career had another memorable moment added to it when Mary won the bronze medal in the women's flyweight category in boxing at the 2012 London Olympics.
  • Sushil Kumar (Silver, London 2012, Men's 66kg freestyle wrestling):  Sushil became the first Indian athlete post-independence to win two individual Olympic medals by winning silver at the 2012 London Olympics in the 66kg freestyle category.
  • Yogeshwar Dutt (Bronze, London 2012, Men's 60kg freestyle wrestling):  As with shooting, wrestling saw a second medallist at the London Olympics in 2012 as well, courtesy Yogeshwar, who won the bronze medal in men's 60kg freestyle wrestling.
  • Sakshi Malik (Bronze, Rio 2016, Women's 58kg freestyle wrestling):  India's wrestling legacy at the Olympics had an extra chapter added to it in Rio de Janeiro, when Sakshi Malik became the first female wrestler to win a medal, claiming a bronze in the women's 58kg freestyle wrestling event.
  • P. V. Sindhu (Silver, Rio 2016, Women's singles in badminton):  After Saina in 2012, it was time for Sindhu to stand on the podium, as she won a silver medal in women's singles badminton, finishing runner-up to Carolina Marin in the final.  
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