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11 Indians Who Have Made the Nation Proud At Olympics

India first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, with a lone athlete Norman Pritchard. The nation first sent a team to the Summer Olympic Games in 1920, and has participated in every Summer Games since then. India has so far won 9 gold medals, 6 silver and 11 bronze medals, a total of 26 medals in 30 Olympics Games. Here is the list of Medal winners from India, and they have made country proud with their effort and dedication. Let’s hope many more take inspiration from them and try to achieve greater success in the field of Sports.

  1. Norman Pritchard- 1990 (Hurdles)

Pritchard was the first Indian-born athlete to participate in the Olympic Games. He was also the first athlete from India and first athlete representing an Asian nation to win an Olympic medal. He won two silver medals at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. He reached the final of the 110 metres hurdles, but did not finish, and also participated in the 60 metres and 100 metres sprints, in which he failed to qualify for the finals.

  1. Leander Paes- 1996 (Tennis)

He won a bronze medal for India in singles in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. He competed in consecutive Olympic appearances from 1992 to 2012, and will compete in 2016, making him the first Indian and only tennis player to compete at seven Olympic Games. He has received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India’s highest sporting honour, in 1996–97; the Arjuna Award in 1990; the Padma Shri award in 2001 and its 3rd Highest Civilian Award the Padma Bhushan in January 2014 for his outstanding contribution to tennis in India

  1. Karnam Malleswari- 2000 and 2004 (Weightlifting)

Weightlifter Karnam Malleswari made history for India as she became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal. She won the world title in the 54 kg division in 1994 and 1995 and placed third in 1993 and 1996. She won a bronze medal in the 69 kg category in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games.

  1. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore- 2004 (Shooting)

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is a Veteran Indian shooter and politician, who rose to fame after winning the Silver Medal in Men’s Double Trap at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. He is the first sportsperson to win an individual Silver for India since Norman Pritchard. Rathore hails from Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.

  1. Abhinav Bindra- 2008 (Shooting)

Abhinav Bindra is a shooter and is a World and Olympic champion in the 10 m Air Rifle event. By winning the gold in the 10 m Air Rifle event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, he became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games. He is the first and only Indian to have held both the World and Olympic titles at the same time. In May 2016, the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) appointed Abhinav Bindra as the Goodwill Ambassador for Rio 2016 Olympic Games Indian Contingent.

  1. Vijender Singh- 2008 (Boxing)

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, by making it to the semi-finals of the middleweight category, Vijender ensured India’s maiden medal in boxing. Though he lost in the semis, Vijender returned home with bronze and was fittingly accorded a grand reception. On 29 June 2015, Vijender Singh bid adieu to his amateur career by turning professional as he signed a multi-year agreement with Queensberry Promotions through IOS Sports and Entertainment. This ruled him out of 2016 Olympics as he no longer remains eligible as an amateur.

  1. Sushil Kumar- 2008 and 2012 (Wrestling)

Competing in the 66 kg weight division Sushil Kumar won the 2010 world title, a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which made him the only Indian to win two individual Olympic medals. His 2008 Olympic medal was second for India in wrestling.

  1. Saina Nehwal- 2012 (Badminton)

She is the first Indian to win a medal in Badminton at the Olympics. She achieved this feat by winning the Bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics on 4 August 2012. She is also the first Indian after Prakash Padukone and the first Indian woman to become world number one badminton player.

  1. Mary Kom- 2012 (Boxing)

Mary Kom is an Indian boxer hailing from the Kom tribe in Manipur. She is the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the six world championships. She is the only Indian woman boxer to have qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, competing in the flyweight (51 kg) category and winning the bronze medal.

  1. Gagan Narang- 2012 (Shooting)

He was the first Indian to qualify for the London Olympics. He won the Bronze Medal in the Men’s 10 m Air Rifle Event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London with a final score of 701.1 on 30 July 2012. According to his father, Gagan showed early sparks of his shooting ability when, at the age of two, he shot a balloon with a toy pistol.

  1. Vijay Kumar- 2012 (Shooting)

He won the silver medal in the individual 25 metre rapid fire pistol event at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Vijay’s silver was the second medal for India at London 2012. Earlier Kumar failed to qualify for the men’s 10 m air pistol finals after finishing 31st on 28 July 2012. Kumar was chosen to be the Indian flagbearer at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The Indian trio of Vijay Kumar, Pemba Tamang and Gurpreet Singh won the silver medal in the 25m center fire event at the 2014 Asian Games, held at Incheon, South Korea.

  1. Yogeshwar Dutt- 2012 (Wrestling)

Yogeshwar Dutt (born 2 November 1982) is an Indian wrestler from Haryana. He started wrestling from a very young age of 8 years. His inspiration was Balraj Pehlwan who was from his native village and he was trained under the guidance of coach Ralph. He won the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Men’s 60kg Freestyle wrestling. He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2013.

India is scheduled to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. The Indian Olympic Association is going to send the nation’s largest ever delegation (thus far 120 athletes; 37 larger than their previous record of 83 athletes in 2012) in Summer Olympic history.

Exited much? We too are excited to see these gems perform at Rio de Janeiro. We wish them luck and lots of love for Olympic 2016. Keep the enthusiasm going!

Backlinks-

  1. Wikipedia
  2. The Hindu

Related Posts:

  1. 11 Things that make India Proud and unique in the World
  2. 7 Things you need to know about RIO 2016
  3. 9 Most foreigner’s favorite destinations in India

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