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The 33rd Summer Olympics will commence on July 26 in Paris, France. The Paris Games will span 19 days and feature over 10,000 athletes competing in 329 events. India, with a contingent of 113 athletes, has won a total of 35 medals at the Olympics.
Here are some of India’s unique records at the Games.
HOCKEY
India has won eight gold medals in hockey. Overall, India has secured 10 Olympic gold medals, with individuals claiming two of those.
The Indian men’s hockey team has been particularly successful, winning eight gold medals.
Notably, they achieved six consecutive gold medals between 1928 and 1956. Additionally, India won two more gold medals in hockey in the 1964 and 1980 editions.
India achieved its first Olympic gold medal as an independent nation in 1948.
In a historic victory, the Indian men’s hockey team triumphed over Great Britain with a decisive 4-0 win in the final, famously known as the “Battle of Champions”.
Remarkably, the Indian team did not concede a single goal throughout the tournament, scoring a total of 29 goals.
SEVEN MEDALS IN TOKYO 2020 CAMPAIGN
India’s impressive performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021 due to the pandemic, resulted in the country securing its best-ever haul of seven medals.
India’s medalists included Mirabai Chanu, who won silver in weightlifting, Lovlina Borgohain with bronze in boxing, PV Sindhu clinching bronze in badminton, the Indian men’s hockey team securing bronze, Ravi Dahiya earning silver in wrestling, Bajrang Punia claiming bronze in wrestling, and Neeraj Chopra achieving gold in javelin throw.
INDIA’S FIRST-EVER OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST
More than a century after its debut at the Olympics, India celebrated its first-ever gold medal in Beijing 2008. Shooter Abhinav Bindra made history by winning the men’s 10-meter air rifle event with a total score of 700.5 points.
Bindra’s achievement was particularly noteworthy as he became the first Indian to simultaneously hold the World Shooting Championships and Olympic titles.
NEERAJ CHOPRA STRIKES GOLD IN TOKYO 2020
Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra made history at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021), securing India’s third athletics medal after 121 years with a historic gold medal in men’s javelin throw.
His achievement marked India’s first-ever gold medal in athletics at the Olympics, and he became India’s second individual Olympic gold medalist following Abhinav Bindra.
TWO OLYMPIC MEDALS IN WEIGHTLIFTING
India had not won an Olympic medal in weightlifting before the turn of this century.
Karnam Malleswari broke this drought by winning the bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Games.
It would take another two decades for India to secure another Olympic medal in weightlifting, achieved by Saikhom Mirabai Chanu with her silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
TRIO WITH MULTIPLE INDIVIDUAL MEDALS
At the 2020 Tokyo Games, Mirabai Chanu became the third Indian athlete to secure multiple Olympic medals, joining the ranks of Norman Pritchard in athletics and Sushil Kumar in wrestling.
India’s Olympic journey began in 1900 with Pritchard, who, as the sole participant, won two silver medals. Sushil Kumar earned bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games and added a silver medal to his tally in 2012.
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