India will be sending its largest contingent to Rio in 2016 chasing hopes of more medals and glory in the Olympics. Ninety-six athletes are slated to travel to Brazil competing in 13 sports. Abhinav Bindra, who won the first Gold for India in 2008 Olympics will be the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent.
India’s first Olympic medal came in 1900 but India couldn’t add another individual medal to its tally till 1952, although the Hockey team kept winning Golds since 1932. India’s best haul came in 2012 when India finished with 6 medals, twice the number of medals they had won in the previous Olympics held in Beijing, 2008.
Indians would now be hoping to get more than their previous record medals in the Rio edition of Olympics. Before India starts its campaign in the quadrennial event, here are 5 facts sure to make your jaw drop about India in Olympics
#1 The first Indian Medal Winner went on to act in movies
India was represented by a single athlete in the second edition of Olympics in 1900 by the name of Norman Pritchard who went on to win not one but two medals for India. Norman was born in Calcutta to George Petersen Pritchard and Helen Maynard Pritchard in 1877 and was 23 when he bagged two silver medals at the Olympics.
Pritchard also dabbled with Football and was the secretary of the Indian Football Association from 1900 to 1903 before moving to Britain in 1905. Pritchard even went on to act in silent films when he moved to Los Angeles under the screen name Norman Trevor.
#2 India has missed only 4 Olympics since its inception
India wasn’t represented in the First Olympics held in 1896 in Athens but were represented by Norman Pritchard in 1900 who brought home two Silvers. However, after 1900, India was seen in Olympics two decades later in 1920.
India didn’t feature in the Olympics of 1904, 1908 and 1912 and was sent to the 1920 edition due to efforts by Sir Dorab Tata and the Governor of Bombay George Lloyd. Since 1920, India has featured in all of the editions of Olympics.
#3 An Indian won a medal for Great Britain in 1948
Chintamoni Kar is a popular name in West Bengal. However, not many in the country know that Kar also won a medal in the Olympics, and that too not for India but for Great Britain. Born in 1915 at Kharagpur, Kar took his first lessons in painting at Abanindranth’s Oriental Art Society. In 1938 he went to Paris to learn sculpting, and he was in London between 1946-56 where he was a member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
At the 14th Olympic exhibition in London, he won a silver for his work Skating the Stag representing Great Britain. the 1948 Games were the final ones to include art competitions and much to Kar’s disappointment, the medals in those events are no longer recognised by the International Olympic Committee.
#4 Indian Hockey goalkeeper gave away a goal while signing autograph
Yes! As ridiculous as it may seem, Indian goalkeeper Richard Allen conceded a goal when he was busy signing autographs behind the goalpost in a match against USA in the 1932 Olympics. But Allen can’t be blamed as his team was winning by a huge margin. The attack unleashed by the Indian forwards on the USA defence had left Allen pretty much jobless as he could only see his teammates celebrate their goals, not one or two but 24 of them.
So, with USA was losing the game by this enormous margin, Allen didn’t think twice before leaving his goal empty to please a few fans of his by signing autographs for them
5. First India-born Olympic medalist KD Jadhav is ineligible for Padma Award
KD Jadhav, the first Indian to win an Olympic medal after the independence in 1952 may never receive a Padma honour due to a technicality that renders him ineligible for the civilian honour. A Home Ministry rule on posthumous conferment of Padma Awards says: "The award is normally not conferred posthumously. However, in highly deserving cases, the Government could consider giving an award posthumously if the demise of the person proposed to be honoured has been recent, say within a period of one year preceding the Republic Day on which it is proposed to announce the award."
All of India’s individual Olympic medalists have been conferred with the Padma honour, forcing Jadhav’s son to threaten to throw away his father’s medal if not given the honour.
