India at the Olympics

The Indian Hockey team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, later going on to defeat Germany 8-1 in the final

India first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, with a lone athlete (Norman Pritchard) winning 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 also competed at several Winter Olympic Games beginning in 1964. Indian athletes have won a total of 24 medals, all at the Summer Games. For a period of time, India national field hockey team was dominant in Olympic competition, winning eleven medals in twelve Olympics between 1920 and 1980. The run included 8 gold medals total and six successive gold medals from 1928–1956.

History

Early history

Indian Olympic delegation 1920

India sent its first athlete to the Olympics for the 1900 games, but an Indian national team did not compete at the Olympics until 1920. Ahead of the 1920 Olympics, Sir Dorab Tata and Governor of Bombay George Lloyd helped India secure representation at the International Olympic Council, enabling it to participate in the Olympic Games (see India at the 1920 Olympic Games). India then sent a team to the 1920 Olympics, comprising four athletes, two wrestlers, and managers Sohrab Bhoot and A H A Fyzee. The Indian Olympic movement was then established during the 1920s: some founders of this movement were Dorab Tata, A.G. Noehren (Madras College of Physical Education), H.C. Buck (Madras College of Physical Education), Moinul Haq (Bihar sports associations), S. Bhoot (Bombay Olympic Association), A.S. Bhagwat (Deccan Gymkhana), and G.D. Sondhi (Punjab Olympic Association); Lt.Col H.L.O. Garrett (from the Government College Lahore and Punjab Olympic Association) and Sagnik Poddar (of St.Stephen's School) helped organise some early national games; and prominent patrons included Maharajas and royal princes Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, Ranji of Nawanagar, the Maharaja of Kapurthala, and the Maharaja of Burdwan.

In 1923, a provisional All India Olympic Committee was formed, and in Feb 1924 the All India Olympic Games (that later became the National Games of India) were held to select a team for the Paris Olympics. The Indian delegation at the Paris Olympics comprised seven athletes, seven tennis players and team manager Harry Buck.

In 1927, the provisional Indian Olympic Committee formally became the Indian Olympic Association (IOA)-its main tasks were to promote the development of sports in India, choose host cities for the national games, and send teams-selected from the national games-to the Olympics. Thus, at the 1928 national games, it selected seven athletes to represent India at the next Olympics, with G. D. Sondhi as manager for the Olympic team. By this time, the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) had also been established and it sent a hockey team to the Olympics. The national hockey team and additional sportspersons were similarly sent to the Olympic Games in 1932 (four athletes and one swimmer) and 1936 (four athletes, three wrestlers, one Burmese weight-lifter), along with three officials headed by team manager Sondhi.

From 1948 onward, because of the Indian Olympic Association's wider outreach, India began sending delegations of over 50 sportspersons representing several sports – each selected by its sports federation – to the Olympics. The delegation was headed by a chef-de-mission.

Thus, India’s Olympic delegation in the early Olympic Games was as follows:

• 1900: One athlete
• 1920: 6 competitors (four athletes, two wrestlers) and managers Bhoot and Fyzee
• 1924: 14 competitors (seven athletes, seven tennis players) and manager Harry Crowe Buck
• 1928: 21 competitors (seven athletes and a hockey team of 14) and manager G D Sondhi
• 1932: 20 competitors (four athletes, one swimmer, and a hockey team of 15) and three officials headed by manager G D Sondhi
• 1936: 27 competitors (four athletes, three wrestlers, one Burmese weight-lifter, and a hockey team of 19) and three officials including manager G D Sondhi
• 1948: 79 competitors and a few officials headed by chef-de-mission Moin ul Haq
• 1952: 64 competitors and some officials headed by chef-de-mission Moin ul Haq

Recent history

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics , Abhinav Bindra won gold in the 10 m Air Rifle event becoming the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games

The 2012 Summer Olympics saw an 83-member Indian contingent participating in the games, and set a new best for the country with six total medals. Wrestler Sushil Kumar became the first Indian with multiple individual Olympic medals since Norman Pritchard in 1901. However, both of Norman Pritchard's medals were silver, while Sushil Kumar had one silver and one bronze.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics, a 124 member team is competing. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Sakshi Malik wins Bronze Medal in women's 58 kg freestyle wrestling becoming first Indian woman Wrestler to do so.

List of competitors

This list provides a comparative compendium of all the participants/competitors of India in the summer Olympic games.

Games	Sports	Men	Women	Total	Change	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Change
1900	1	1	0	1	NA	0	2	0	2	NA
1920	2	6	0	6	+5	0	0	0	0	-2
1924	2	13	2	15	+8	0	0	0	0	0
1928	2	21	0	21	+7	1	0	0	1	+1
1932	3	30	0	30	+9	1	0	0	1	0
1936	3-4	27	0	27	-3	1	0	0	1	0
1948	10	79	0	79	+52	1	0	0	1	0
1952	11	60	4	64	-15	1	0	1	2	+1
1956	8	58	1	59	-5	1	0	0	1	-1
1960	6	45	0	45	-14	0	1	0	1	0
1964	8	52	1	53	+8	1	0	0	1	0
1968	5	25	0	25	-28	0	0	1	1	0
1972	7	40	1	41	+16	0	0	1	1	0
1976	2	20	0	20	-21	0	0	0	0	-1
1980	1	58	18	76	+56	1	0	0	1	+1
1984				48	-28	0	0	0	0	-1
1988	7			46	-2	0	0	0	0	0
1992	5			53	+7	0	0	0	0	0
1996	13	44	4	49	-4	0	0	1	1	+1
2000	7			65	+16	0	0	1	1	0
2004	14	48	25	73	+8	0	1	0	1	0
2008	12	31	25	56	-17	1	0	2	3	+2
2012	13	60	23	83	+27	0	2	4	6	+3
2016	15	66	54	118	+35	0	0	1	1	-5

This list provides a comparative compendium of all the participants/competitors of India in the winter Olympic games.

Games	Sports	Men	Women	Total	Change	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Change
1964	1	1	0	1	NA	0	0	0	0	NA
1968	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
1988	1	2	1	3	+2	0	0	0	0	0
1992	1	2	0	2	-1	0	0	0	0	0
1998	1	1	0	1	-1	0	0	0	0	0
2002	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
2006	3	3	1	4	+3	0	0	0	0	0
2010	3	3	0	3	-1	0	0	0	0	0
2014	3	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0

Medal tables

See also: All-time Olympic Games medal count

Medals by Summer Games

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Rank
1896 Athens	did not participate
1900 Paris	0	2	0	2	17
1904 St. Louis	did not participate
1908 London	did not participate
1912 Stockholm	did not participate
1920 Antwerp	0	0	0	0	-
1924 Paris	0	0	0	0	-
1928 Amsterdam	1	0	0	1	23
1932 Los Angeles	1	0	0	1	19
1936 Berlin	1	0	0	1	20
1948 London	1	0	0	1	22
1952 Helsinki	1	0	1	2	26
1956 Melbourne	1	0	0	1	24
1960 Rome	0	1	0	1	32
1964 Tokyo	1	0	0	1	24
1968 Mexico City	0	0	1	1	42
1972 Munich	0	0	1	1	43
1976 Montreal	0	0	0	0	-
1980 Moscow	1	0	0	1	23
1984 Los Angeles	0	0	0	0	-
1988 Seoul	0	0	0	0	-
1992 Barcelona	0	0	0	0	-
1996 Atlanta	0	0	1	1	71
2000 Sydney	0	0	1	1	71
2004 Athens	0	1	0	1	65
2008 Beijing	1	0	2	3	50
2012 London	0	2	4	6	55
2016 Rio de Janeiro	1*	1*	1	2	70
Total	9	4	12	28

*as of 18th August 2016, PV Sindhu has qualified for the finals of Women's Singles which ensures a gold/silver medal for India in badminton.

Medals by sport

  

Sport	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Rank
Field hockey	8	1	2	11	1
Shooting	1	2	1	4	33
Athletics	0	2	0	2	71
Wrestling	0	1	4	5	43
Boxing	0	0	2	2	64
Badminton	1*	*	1	2	10
Tennis	0	0	1	1	28
Weightlifting	0	0	1	1	56
Total	9	7	12	28

*as of 18th August 2016, PV Sindhu has qualified for the finals of Women's Singles which ensures a silver medal for India in badminton.

List of medalists

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Medal	Name/Team	Games	Sport	Event
Silver	Norman Pritchard	1900 Paris	Athletics	Men's 200 metres
Silver	Norman Pritchard	1900 Paris	Athletics	Men's 200 metre hurdles
Gold	National team	1928 Amsterdam	Field hockey	Men's competition
Gold	National team	1932 Los Angeles	Field hockey	Men's competition
Gold	National team	1936 Berlin	Field hockey	Men's competition
Gold	National team	1948 London	Field hockey	Men's competition
Gold	National team	1952 Helsinki	Field hockey	Men's competition
Bronze	Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav	1952 Helsinki	Wrestling	Men's freestyle Bantamweight
Gold	National team	1956 Melbourne	Field hockey	Men's competition
Silver	National team	1960 Rome	Field hockey	Men's competition
Gold	National team	1964 Tokyo	Field hockey	Men's competition
Bronze	National team	1968 Mexico City	Field hockey	Men's competition
Bronze	National team	1972 Munich	Field hockey	Men's competition
Gold	National team	1980 Moscow	Field hockey	Men's competition
Bronze	Leander Paes	1996 Atlanta	Tennis	Men's singles
Bronze	Karnam Malleswari	2000 Sydney	Weightlifting	Women's 69 kg
Silver	Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore	2004 Athens	Shooting	Men's double trap
Gold	Abhinav Bindra	2008 Beijing	Shooting	Men's 10 m Air Rifle
Bronze	Vijender Singh	2008 Beijing	Boxing	Men's 75 kg
Bronze	Sushil Kumar	2008 Beijing	Wrestling	Men's 66 kg Freestyle
Silver	Vijay Kumar	2012 London	Shooting	Men's 25 Rapid Fire Pistol
Silver	Sushil Kumar	2012 London	Wrestling	Men's 66 kg Freestyle
Bronze	Saina Nehwal	2012 London	Badminton	Women's singles
Bronze	Mary Kom	2012 London	Boxing	Women's flyweight
Bronze	Gagan Narang	2012 London	Shooting	Men's 10m Air Rifle
Bronze	Yogeshwar Dutt	2012 London	Wrestling	Men's 60 kg Freestyle
Bronze	Sakshi Malik	2016 Rio de Janeiro	Wrestling	Women's 58 kg Freestyle

See also

• Category:Olympic competitors for India
• India at the Paralympics
• India at the Asian Games
• India at the Commonwealth Games
• Olympic Gold Quest

External links

• "India". International Olympic Committee.
• Template:IOC medals
• "Olympic Medal Winners". International Olympic Committee.
• "India". Sports-Reference.com.