India at the Olympics
India first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, with a lone athlete 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 28 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
India sent its first athlete to the Summer Olympics for the 1900 Games, but an Indian national team did not compete at the Summer Olympics until 1920. Ahead of the 1920 Games, Sir Dorabji Tata and Governor of Bombay George Lloyd helped India secure representation at the International Olympic Council, enabling it to participate in the 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 Dorabji Tata, A.G. Noehren, H.C. Buck, Moinul Haq, S. Bhoot, A.S. Bhagwat, and Guru Dutt Sondhi ; Lt.Col H.L.O. Garrett and Sagnik Poddar helped organise some early national games; and prominent patrons included Maharajas and royal princes Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, Ranjitsinhji of Nawanagar, the Maharaja of Kapurthala, and the Maharaja of Burdwan.In 1923, a provisional All India Olympic Committee was formed, and in February 1924, the All India Olympic Games were held to select a team for the Paris Summer 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 ; 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 Summer Olympics. Thus, at the 1928 national games, it selected seven athletes to represent India at the next Summer Olympics, with Sondhi as manager. By this time, the Indian Hockey Federation had also been established and it sent a hockey team to the Summer Olympics. The national hockey team and additional sportspersons were similarly sent to the 1932 Games and 1936, along with three officials headed by team manager Sondhi.
From 1948 onward, because of the IOA's wider outreach, India began sending delegations of over 50 sportspersons representing several sport, each selected by its sports federation, to the Summer Olympics. The delegation was headed by a chef-de-mission.
Thus, India's Summer Olympic delegation in the early Olympic Games was as follows:
- 1900: One athlete
- 1920: 6 competitors and managers Bhoot and Fyzee
- 1924: 14 competitors and manager Harry Crowe Buck
- 1928: 21 competitors and manager G D Sondhi
- 1932: 20 competitors and three officials headed by manager G D Sondhi
- 1936: 27 competitors 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
The 2012 Summer Olympics saw an 83-member Indian contingent participating in the games and setting a new best for the country with a total of six medals. Wrestler Sushil Kumar became the first Indian with multiple individual Olympic medals since Norman Pritchard in 1900. Saina Nehwal won bronze medal in badminton in Women's singles getting the country's first Olympic medal in badminton. Pugilist Mary Kom became the first Indian woman to win a medal in boxing with her bronze medal finish in Women's flyweight.
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, a record number of 118 athletes competed. Sakshi Malik became the first Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal with her bronze medal finish in Women's freestyle 58 kg category. Shuttler P. V. Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win a silver medal in Olympics and also the youngest Indian Olympic medallist.
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 | 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 | 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 | 5 | 38 | 9 | 48 | −28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 |
| 1988 | 10 | 39 | 6 | 46 | −2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1992 | 12 | 44 | 7 | 53 | +7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1996 | 13 | 45 | 4 | 49 | −4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +1 |
| 2000 | 13 | 46 | 19 | 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 | 63 | 54 | 117 | +34 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −4 |
This list provides a comparative compendium of all the participants/competitors of India in the winter Olympic games.
| Games | Sports | Men | Women | Total | Change | 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 |
| 2018 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Medal tables
- Red colour indicates the best performance.
Medals by Summer Games
Medals by sport
| Sport | Total | Rank | |||
| 8 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 1 | |
| 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 34 | |
| 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 71 | |
| 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 43 | |
| 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | |
| 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 64 | |
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 30 | |
| 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 56 | |
| Total | 9 | 7 | 12 | 28 |