<
>

Every medal India has won at the Olympics

India won their first-ever gold medal at the Olympics, in men's hockey where Dhyan Chand led a dominant team. Ullstein Bild/Ullstein Bild via Getty Images

India at the Olympics has quite the history, with medals dating back to pre-Independence in 1900. India has won a total of 40 medals from 26 modern Games.

While this isn't the most impressive of hauls, ranking India as 57th in the all-time table, it makes every medal precious to a nation of over 1.5 billion.

Note: India has never won a Winter Olympics medal - all 38 have come at the Summer Olympics. India also did not participate in the 1896, 1904, 1908 and 1912 Summer Olympics.

Here is every medal won by India at the Olympics.


1900 Paris Olympics

India made their debut at the 1900 Paris Olympics, despite being under British rule. Norman Pritchard, born in Calcutta, was the lone athlete representing India - according to the International Olympic Council, although this is disputed in other historical records. Pritchard won two silver medals to kick off India's medal tally.

  • Norman Pritchard - SILVER - Men's 200m hurdles

  • Norman Pritchard - SILVER - Men's 200m sprint

1928 Amsterdam Olympics

India won their first-ever gold medal at the Olympics in men's hockey. Dhyan Chand led a dominant team to gold, kicking off a streak of six consecutive gold medals.

  • India men's hockey team - GOLD - Field hockey

1932 Los Angeles Olympics

India secured their biggest ever win (24-1 vs USA) en route to their second consecutive gold in men's hockey.

  • India men's hockey team - GOLD - Field hockey

1936 Berlin Olympics

Dhyan Chand made it a hat-trick of gold medals for India, defeating Germany in the men's hockey final.

  • India men's hockey team - GOLD - Field hockey

1948 London Olympics

India won their first-ever Olympic medal as an independent nation, with no surprise as to its origin. A new generation of hockey players lead by Balbir Singh Sr. continued India's dominance.

  • India men's hockey team - GOLD - Field hockey

1952 Helsinki Olympics

The Indian men's hockey team made it five in a row, with Balbir Singh Sr. increasing his legend with a superb performance in the final. India also won their first-ever medal in wrestling, with KD Jadhav earning independent India's first-ever individual medal.

  • India men's hockey team - GOLD - Field hockey

  • KD Jadhav - BRONZE - Men's wrestling (bantamweight)

1956 Melbourne Olympics

Balbir Singh Sr. and his band of merry men made it six gold medals in a row for the Indian men's hockey team - an Olympic feat not bettered in a team event apart from USA's basketball teams.

  • India men's hockey team - GOLD - Field hockey

1960 Rome Olympics

India reached double digits in their Olympic medal tally but it wasn't a gold in men's hockey as expected, with a Balbir Singh Sr. - less India losing to Pakistan in the final.

  • India men's hockey team - SILVER - Field hockey

1964 Tokyo Olympics

The Indian men's hockey team faced Pakistan in the final for a third consecutive time but won gold this time.

  • India men's hockey team - GOLD - Field hockey

1968 Mexico City Olympics

The Indian men's hockey team failed to reach the final for the first time in the last eight Olympics, losing in the semifinal to Australia and then beating West Germany to win bronze.

  • India men's hockey team - BRONZE - Field hockey

1972 Munich Olympics

India made it 10 consecutive medals for the men's hockey team, as well as the nation, which went medal-less in 1976. A loss to Pakistan in the semifinal was followed by a win over Netherlands to win bronze.

  • India men's hockey team - BRONZE - Field hockey

1980 Moscow Olympics

The Indian men's hockey team returned to the summit, after a catastrophic 1976 Olympics and won gold. It would be Indian hockey's last medal until the bronze in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

  • India men's hockey team - GOLD - Field hockey

1996 Atlanta Olympics

After 14 medals in the previous 15 Olympics, India's run came to a hard stop in the next three, going medal-less in 1984, 1988 and 1992. Leander Paes ended the 16-year drought with a shock bronze in tennis, losing to Andre Agassi in the semifinal before beating Fernando Meligani to earn India's 15th Olympic medal and only the third individual medal.

  • Leander Paes - Bronze - Men's singles, Tennis

2000 Sydney Olympics

Weightlifter Karnam Malleswari became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal, and only the fourth individual medal in the nation's history.

  • Karnam Malleswari - BRONZE - Women's weightlifting (54kg)

2004 Athens Olympics

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won India's sole medal at the Athens Olympics and became the first Indian shooter to win an Olympic medal.

  • Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore - SILVER - Men's double trap shooting

2008 Beijing Olympics

India won three medals at an Olympics for the first-time ever, with Abhinav Bindra, Vijender Singh and Sushil Kumar making it India's then most successful Olympics and taking the nation's tally to 20. Bindra's gold was India's first-ever individual gold medal, while Vijender Singh won India's first boxing medal at the Olympics.

  • Abhinav Bindra - GOLD - Men's 10m air rifle shooting

  • Vijender Singh - BRONZE - Men's middleweight boxing

  • Sushil Kumar - BRONZE - Men's wrestling (freestyle 66kg)

2012 London Olympics

India doubled their best-ever tally at the Olympics, with six medals taking their overall tally to 26. Saina Nehwal won India's first-ever badminton medal, with five-time world champion Mary Kom becoming the first Indian woman to win a boxing medal (only because this was the first edition of women's boxing at the Olympics). Sushil Kumar also became the first Indian to win two individual Olympic medals.

  • Gagan Narang - BRONZE - Men's 10m air rifle shooting

  • Vijay Kumar - SILVER - Men's 25m rapid fire pistol shooting

  • Saina Nehwal - BRONZE - Women's singles, Badminton

  • Mary Kom - BRONZE - Women's flyweight boxing

  • Yogeshwar Dutt - BRONZE - Men's wrestling (freestyle 60kg)

  • Sushil Kumar - SILVER - Men's wrestling (freestyle 66kg)

2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics

India were swiftly brought back down to earth after the success of London, with only two medals in Brazil. PV Sindhu won her first Olympic medal, while Sakshi Malik became the first (and till date, only) Indian woman wrestler to win an Olympic medal.

  • Sakshi Malik - BRONZE - Women's wrestling (58kg)

  • PV Sindhu - SILVER - Women's singles, Badminton

2020 Tokyo Olympics

The Covid-affected Olympics proved to be India's most successful ever, with seven medals taking India's overall tally to 35 medals. PV Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win multiple Olympic medals, while the Indian men's hockey team ended their 41-year medal drought. Neeraj Chopra won the nation's first-ever gold medal in Athletics (and only the second individual gold ever by an Indian).

  • Mirabai Chanu - SILVER - Women's weightlifting (49kg)

  • PV Sindhu - BRONZE - Women's singles, Badminton

  • Lovlina Borgohain - BRONZE - Women's welterweight boxing

  • India men's hockey team - BRONZE - Field hockey

  • Ravi Kumar Dahiya - SILVER - Men's wrestling (freestyle 57kg)

  • Bajrang Punia - BRONZE - Men's wrestling (freestyle 65kg)

  • Neeraj Chopra - GOLD - Men's javelin throw

2024 Paris Olympics

The ongoing Paris Olympics saw shooting end a 12-year drought, while Manu Bhaker became the first to win multiple medals at the same Games (Independent India). Neeraj Chopra became the fourth individual Indian to have multiple medals at the Olympics

  • Manu Bhaker - BRONZE - Women's 10m pistol shooting

  • Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh - BRONZE - Mixed team 10m pistol shooting

  • Swapnil Kusale - BRONZE - Men's 50m air rifle 3P shooting

  • India men's hockey team - BRONZE - Field hockey

  • Neeraj Chopra - SILVER - Men's javelin throw

  • Aman Sehrawat - BRONZE - wrestling men's 57kg freestyle