Despite being the second most populous country in the world, India has not enjoyed a great history at the Olympic games, winning just 28 medals. Though the nation continues to lead the race amongst the sub-continent countries. The journey of this peninsular country started way back in 1900, when a Indo-British athlete Norman Pritchard won two silver medals in 200m hurdles and 200m respectively. He also became the first Asian-born athlete to win a medal at Olympic. Since then India has come a long way and continue to be the most successful country in hockey at the Olympics with 11 medals(8 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze). On that note, here’s a look at Indian Olympic Winners and medallists.
Also read: India at the Olympics: Some of the most unheard and unnoticed facts
| Medal | INDIAN OLYMPIC MEDAL WINNERS | Olympic Games | Sport | Event |
| Silver | Norman Pritchard | 1900 Paris | Athletics | Men’s 200 metres |
| Silver | Norman Pritchard | 1900 Paris | Athletics | Men’s 200 metre hurdles |
| Bronze | Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav | 1952 Helsinki | Wrestling | Men’s freestyle Bantamweight |
| 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 Bejing | Boxing | Men’s 75 kg |
| Bronze | Sushil Kumar | 2008 Bejing | 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 10 m Air Rifle |
| Bronze | Yogeshwar Dutt | 2012 London | Wrestling | Men’s 60 kg Freestyle |
| Bronze | Sakshi Malik | 2016 Rio | Wrestling | Women’s 58kg freestyle |
| Silver | PV Sindhu | 2016 Rio | Badminton | Women’s Singles |
Indian Olympic Winners and medallist- Team Sports
| Medal | Team | Olympic GAMES | Sport | Category |
| 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 |
| 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 | 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 |
India will next compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic with a vision to break the previous best record of 6 medals, which they achieved in 2012 London Olympics.
Indian Olympic Winners and medallist – Winter Olympics
Unfortunately India has not won a single medal in the Winter Olympic games and there can be many reasons for the lack of success in the winter edition games. One reason can be lack of snow in India due to the considerably hot climate in the country. Manali and Kashmir receive snow in all the season but the poverty in these regions have made people struggle for two times of food, so thinking about a sport is just way beyond their vision. Kashmir is also struggling from political tensions.
Other reasons can be lack of government support and lack of sponsors for the athletes. There have been many stories that Indian athletes had to crowdfund their trip in the past.
