Shooting has also been a very fruitful contributor to India’s medal tally in the Olympics. In total, India has won seven medals across various shooting disciplines in the Olympics. Athletics has contributed to a total of four medals to the Indian medal tally at the Olympics.
The latter part of this period saw India achieving success in other sports as well. The period from 1956 to 2000 saw India maintaining its stronghold in hockey while also achieving notable individual successes.
His gold in the Men’s 10 M Air rifle event remains India’s only medal in shooting. Neeraj Chopra won India’s first-ever gold medal in athletics at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. His throw of 87.58 metres in the men’s javelin final secured the gold, making him a national hero. Abhinav Bindra made history by becoming the first Indian individual Olympic gold medalist in 2008.
MS Dhoni Centuries in Test and ODI Matches [All 16]
India won bronze defeating Germany after 41 years at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Indian men’s hockey defeated Spain at Paris Olympics 2024 to win the bronze medal. After 12 years, Manu Bhaker won a historic bronze medal to break India’s drought of shooting medals.
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- The 21st century has seen a diversification in the sports in which India has excelled, with athletes achieving success across various disciplines.
- Pritchard won two silver medals in the 200m and the 200m hurdles events thus making him the first Asian-born athlete to ever win an Olympic medal.
- The Indian men’s hockey team established itself as a formidable force, winning six consecutive gold medals.
- India’s first bronze came at the 1968 Mexico Olympics when they were defeated for the first time in the semi-finals by Australia.
- He remains the only Indian wrestler with multiple medals, and with none of the six wrestlers representing India in Paris 2024 having ever won Olympic medals, will continue to do so.
- In the CT match against Pakistan in Dubai, Rohit Sharma became the latest opening batter to cross this landmark in ODIs.
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History of the Indian Olympics
5126 The number of balls India’s Mohammed Shami required to claim the 200th ODI wicket of his career. This is now the quickest in terms of number of balls taken by any of the 43 bowlers who have the distinction of claiming 200 or more wickets in ODI cricket. However, Starc is still the fastest to 200 ODI wickets in fewest games (102), while Pakistan offie Saqlain Mushtaq has done it in fewer innings (101). In Alpine Skiing, Deepak Thakur and Giridhar showcased outstanding performances, claiming gold in the Intermediate Super G M04 and M05 categories, respectively. Abhishek Kumar bagged silver in the Novice Super G M01 event, while Radha Devi added another silver in the Intermediate Super G F03 category. Karnam Malleswari (bronze at Sydney 2000) and Mirabai Chanu (silver at Tokyo 2020) have given India medals in weightlifting at the Olympics.
India will be heading to Paris 2024 having secured seven medals in Tokyo 2020, its best-ever performance. In total, India has secured 35 medals at the Summer Games, including 10 gold medals. After a hiatus due to World War II, the Olympics resumed in 1948, and India clinched their fourth gold in men’s field hockey by beating Great Britain 4-0 under the captaincy of Balbir Singh Sr.
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Additionally, she also became the first Indian woman to win a medal in shooting at the Olympics. Neeraj Chopra secured the top spot in the javelin throw event, making history as India’s first gold medalist in track and field at the Olympics. His achievement also marked him as only the second Indian athlete to claim an individual gold medal at the Games. All the medals were won by women, the first being a bronze medal won by Saina Nehwal in the 2012 London Olympics. The ace shuttler advanced to the semifinals before losing to top seed Wang Yihan in straight games but won the Bronze medal match against Wang Xin. India returned empty-handed for four straight Olympics before Leander Paes got them into winning ways at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
He was the first Indian representative at the modern Olympics and participated in 5 men’s events in Athletics – 60m, 100m, 200m, 110m, and 200m hurdles. Eventually, he ended up winning silver medals in the 200m and 200m hurdles and kickstarted India’s Olympic journey on a positive note. India’s Abhinav Bindra created history by winning the first-ever gold medal in an individual event.
He was the first Olympian in the country since indepedence to win two Olympic medals and also the only wrestler from India to win two Olympic medals. India put up a men’s and a women’s team of a total of 32 athletes (16 men and 16 women). The Alpine skiing finals, capturing the intense action, high-speed descents and sheer determination of the athletes.
India continued their winning streak in the Olympics, securing their fifth consecutive gold medal in men’s field hockey in 1952. They defeated the Netherlands 6-1 in the final where Balbir Singh Sr. scored five goals. The made a post Indian men’s hockey team still remains the most successful team for the country at the Olympics, having won 12 medals, which include eight gold medals, one silver and three bronze medals. Balbir Singh Sr. is widely regarded as the best centre-forward in the history of hockey and his record of 246 goals in 61 games backs it up. Given the Sr. suffix to distinguish him from other Balbir Singhs in hockey, the forward inspired India to three consecutive gold medals post the second World War. He scored 22 goals in 8 games over three Olympics and still holds the record for the most goals scored in the Olympic final (5 in India’s 6-1 win over the Netherlands).