Independent India has witnessed and participated in 17 Summer Olympics since getting freedom in 1947. In those 17 games, India has won only 21 medals (Overall India has won 26 medals since 1900) and this number is pretty low to say the least. The reasons for the low number of medals are many but I will leave that story for another day.
With the 18th Olympics for independent India round the corner, we bring to you few of the finest moments for India in the Olympics.
Disclaimer - Note that this list is no specific order and all of these moments made us Indians equally proud. Also, this list in no way undermines the achievement of the remaining medal winners, for I am sure each one of them would have worked really hard to earn an Olympic medal.
#6 Gold in Men’s Field Hockey, 1948 London
Although, this was the fourth time that the Indian Men’s hockey team had won a gold medal at the Olympics; the reason this win finds a mention here is because this was the first Olympics medal for independent India. The fact that the medal was earned after defeating Great Britain in the finals, a country which had ruled India for a long time, made it even more special.
Kishan Lal led Indian team defeated the Britishers in the finals by a margin of 4-0 and star of the final was Balbir Singh Sr. who scored two of the four goals. Incidentally, Balbir Singh Sr, at the age of 91 is the oldest living Olympian in the country.
Coming back to the tournament, the Indian team were in top form from the start. India defeated Austria and Argentina by a whopping margin of 8-0 & 9-1 respectively. In the match against Argentina, Balbir Singh Sr. scored six goals. In the quarter finals India defeated Spain 2-0 before getting past the Dutch team by a margin of 2-1.
Interestingly, prior to the Olympics, there was a suggestion to field a joint India-Pakistan team, which of course, was rejected. This win definitely brought some smiles on the faces of the Indians who were still trying to overcome the tragedy of partition.
#5 Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav - Bronze in Freestyle Wrestling, 1952 Helsinki
While the hockey gold medal at the 1948 London Olympics was the first Olympic medal for independent India, the country had to wait for the next Olympics to get a medal in any individual sport.
Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav ended this wait by winning bronze in freestyle wrestling in the bantam weight category. The country gave him a hero’s welcome on his return. He was welcomed in grand fashion at his home town in Karad (Maharashtra) with dhols and bullock cart processions.
Also Read: Khashaba Jadhav – Independent India’s first individual Olympic medallist
It is interesting to note that KD, as he was commonly known, was initially overlooked for the Olympics squad and would not have made it to Helsinki had it not been for The Maharaja of Patiala; who was fond of wrestling and played a role in him being selected.
After KD wrote to the Maharaja, the king convinced the authorities to hold about again between Niranjan Das and KD. KD who had already won the previous two bouts against Das, won the third bout and got his ticket to Helsinki confirmed.
#4 Leander Paes - Bronze in Lawn Tennis, 1996 Atlanta
When the Indian team reached Atlanta for the 1996 Olympics, not many would have expected a medal. The reason for this low expectation was the fact that the Indian contingent had returned empty-handed from the last three Olympics in 1984, 1988 & 1992.
And the medal came from the most unexpected quarters - lawn tennis. Now, tennis is a game where Indians have not done well historically. So, Leander Paes’ achievement to win an Olympics bronze medal in tennis was commendable and ranks highly on great Indian Olympic victories.
Paes, who was 23 years old then, reached the semi-finals in convincing fashion. But in the semis he encountered Andre Agassi, arguably one of the all-time greats. Paes did give a good fight to Agassi going down 6-7, 3-6.
In the bronze medal playoff, Paes’ opponent was Brazil’s Fernando Meligeni. Paes, who lost the first set 3-6, came back strongly to win the next two 6-2, 6-4 and thus giving India its first individual Olympics medal after a gap of 44 years.
#3 Karnam Malleswari - Bronze in Weightlifting, 2000 Sydney
It took 53 years since independence for an Indian woman to win an Olympics medal. The moment of reckoning came at the 2000 Sydney Games when Karnam Malleswari won the bronze medal in weightlifting in the 69 kg category.
Malleswari lifted 110 kg in the snatch and 130 kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 240 kg. Although the Indian public were happy and proud of her feat, she was a bit disappointed on missing out the gold.
Also Read: Blast from the Past: When India made a breakthrough with its weightlifting champion in the Olympics
It was a combination of some miscalculations on the part of her coaches and a bit of bad luck that stopped her from finishing on the top step of the podium. Nevertheless, her bronze medal was a golden moment in India’s Olympic history. To put things into perspective, only two Indian other women (Mary Kom and Saina Nehwal in 2012 London Olympics) have won an Olympics medal since her heroics in Sydney.
#2 Sushil Kumar - Silver in Wrestling, 2012 London
Wrestler Sushil Kumar Solanki may have been in the news for wrong reasons recently. But this in no way will take away from him the laurels that he has brought for the nation.
In the 2012 London Olympics, Sushil Kumar made Indians proud by winning the silver medal in the 66 kg freestyle wrestling. In the finals, he lost to the Japanese wrestler Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu.
His medal in the 2012 London Olympics made him the only Indian to win two individual Olympic medals, after his bronze medal in the same category in the 2008 Beijing Olympics). He was the flag bearer of the Indian contingent at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic games.
#1 Abhinav Bindra - Gold in Shooting, 2008 Beijing
In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Abhinav Bindra did what no Indian had done before him – win gold in an Olympics event. In fact, he remains the only Indian to win an Olympics gold in an individual sport. He did this when he won the gold medal in the 10m Air Rifle event.
Bindra, who was at fourth position in the qualifying round, raced to the top with a score of 104.5 in the final round. A story from his book titled “My Olympic Journey” gives us a glimpse of the hard work and dedication that went into his game. In a bid to get out of his comfort zone, Bindra flew to Munich prior to the Beijing Olympics to climb a 40-feet pizza pole - a technique which is also used by German special forces.
Bindra, did conquer his fears by not only climbing the top of the pole but also achieved his dream of winning an Olympic gold medal.
