List of all the gold medals India has won at the Olympics ft. Neeraj Chopra
With the 2024 Paris Olympics about to get underway from Friday, July 26, one hopes that all the participants and spectators are geared up and ready to be a part of perhaps the most special sporting event in the world.
India, who have fielded strong contingents in almost every event, will hope that they are able to add to their medal tally and pick up as many as they can - with the possible expectation of several golds.
This is also a good time to revisit our past and take a look at the success that our athletes have achieved over the years. This will also be the 33rd time that the Summer Olympics are conducted.
In this listicle, we take a look at the ten gold medals that India has won at the Olympics so far:
#1 Men's hockey team, 1928
The Indian men's hockey team were the first to win an Olympic gold medal for the country when they did so in the 1928 Summer Games held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
This was only the third time that the field hockey event was held in the Games; India beat the hosts 3-0 in the final to seal the deal with the legendary Major Dhyan Chand scoring a brace to annihilate their opponents.
#2 Men's hockey team, 1932
India also won the gold medal in the men's field hockey event in the next edition of the Olympics, held in Los Angeles, USA in 1932.
Participated only by India, Japan and the hosts USA, this event was almost entirely dominated by the former, who beat Japan 9-1 in their first game.
The Indians, led by an assault from Major Chand and Roop Singh, beat the hosts 24-1 in their final encounter to win the tournament and pick up their second gold medal in a row.
#3 Men's hockey team, 1936
The Indian men's hockey team made it three gold medals in a row when they emerged as the champions of the event in the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin, Germany as well.
The Indians dominated this tournament as well, beating Hungary 4-0, the USA 7-0 and Japan a whopping 9-0 to win the gold medal in the field hockey event in the Olympics once again.
#4 Men's hockey team, 1948
After a brief interlude of twelve years in which no Summer Games were held, India won the gold medal in the men's field hockey event in the 1948 Olympics held in London, United Kingdom.
This was India's fourth win in this event in a row after beating Great Britain in the final by a 4-0 scoreline. This must have been a slap-in-the-cheek for the hosts given that India had just achieved independence from British rule a year earlier.
#5 Men's hockey team, 1952
India created history when they won the gold medal in the men's field hockey event for the fifth time in a row when they beat the Netherlands in the final of the 1952 Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland.
The Dutch were treated to a whopping 6-1 defeat in the final by the Indians, as the legendary Balbir Singh Sr scored five goals and put the game well beyond the realm of understanding of the former.
#6 Men's hockey team, 1956
The Indian men's hockey team continued dominating the Olympic Games as they picked up their sixth gold medal in a row in the 1956 Summer Games held in Melbourne, Australia.
This win was extremely sweet for the Indians as they beat arch-rivals Pakistan in the final and did not allow a single goal to be scored against them in the entire tournament!
#7 Men's hockey team, 1964
After being beaten by neighbours Pakistan in the final of the 1960 Olympics held in Rome, Italy, India exacted revenge on them by beating them in the final of the 1964 Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan.
India beat Pakistan by a 1-0 scoreline thanks to a goal from Mohinder Lal; this was incidentally the same scoreline by which they were beaten by the latter in the final of the 1960 Olympics.
#8 Men's hockey team, 1980
After a gap of sixteen years, in which three Summer Games had been conducted, India won the gold in the men's field hockey event for the eighth - and last so far - time in the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow, Soviet Union (as Russia was known then).
India beat Spain in the final of this tournament by a 4-3 scoreline and recreated the glory that they had seemingly passed over to other, lesser nations in the sixteen years since. Surinder Singh Sodhi scored a brace in the final.
#9 Abhinav Bindra, 2008
Abhinav Bindra's gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics is well-documented, with the shooter becoming the first individual Indian to win a gold medal in the Summer Games.
In this, he won the men's 10-meter air rifle event, shooting a total of 700.5. Although he could not quite replicate his performances in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, Bindra earned the right to be called a legend with his showing in 2008.
#10 Neeraj Chopra, 2020
Neeraj Chopra's win in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was only the second individual gold that an Indian has won, following on the heels of Bindra twelve years before this.
On 7 August, the Army Subedar won the gold in the final with a throw of 87.58 metres in his second attempt and became the first Indian Olympian to win a gold medal in athletics.