Rio Olympics 2016: 5 unknown facts about Indian Olympic History
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.