In 2008, Indian competitors created a new record for the most medals won at an Olympics, which they later doubled.
India has won more medals at the Olympics since the year 2000 than they did in all of their previous competitions. Twenty of the 35 medals the nation has won at the Olympics have come from the Sydney Games in 2000. India’s journey in the twenty-first century has been one of gradual but essentially constant improvement. The hockey gold medals have vanished, but Abhinav Bindra and Neeraj Chopra made sure that the medal makes a comeback to India through other sports. A number of sportsmen won medals for the first time in their respective sports. And at the most recent Olympics, the men’s hockey team ended a more than forty-year drought with a stunning bronze, even though it may not have been gold. We have previously examined India’s Olympic performance prior to its independence from British colonial authority, the years 1948–1980, when the hockey team’s last gold medal was earned, and the subsequent years of drought that were only broken by Leander Paes’ bronze medal at the 1996 Games. Let us now examine the nation’s performance in the new millennium.
The first female Indian medallist, Sydney 2000
India sent 65 competitors, its largest number to date, to the 2000 Sydney Olympics, making it a historic occasion. As the first Indian woman to earn an Olympic medal in weightlifting, Karnam Malleswari created history by taking home a bronze medal. Malleswari participated in the 69kg women’s division and set personal bests in the snatch and clean and jerk categories, lifting 110.0 kg and 130.0 kg, respectively. She thereby finished considerably ahead of fourth place with a total weight of 240.0 kg.
2004 Athens: A gold medal in shooting
For the first time since the first modern Olympics were staged in the Greek city in 1896, the Olympics returned to its historic home, with Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore emerging as the lone medal winner from India. The first Indian to win a silver medal individually was Rathore. In the men’s trap shooting qualification round, he received a score of 135 overall. Rathore finished one point ahead of Wang Zheng of China with a final round score of 179.
Beijing 2008: India’s comeback to gold
The nation’s men’s hockey team’s failure to qualify for the Olympics in Beijing cast a shadow over the build-up to the games. It meant that, for the first time since 1928, India was not represented in men’s hockey at the Olympics. But as it happened, the Games were truly momentous. After winning the men’s 10m air rifle championship, Abhinav Bindra made history as the first Indian to win an individual gold medal in the country’s independent history. It was the nation’s first gold in any event other than hockey and the first gold for India overall since the men’s hockey team took home the trophy in 1980. Boxer Vijender Singh won bronze in the men’s 75kg weight class, while wrestler Sushil Kumar took home the bronze in the men’s freestyle 66kg class. While Vijender was the first Indian boxer to earn a gold at a Games, Sushil was the first Indian wrestler to win an Olympic medal since KD Jadhav in 1952.
London 2012: An incredible haul
India quadrupled its medal total from the 2008 Olympics, even though they did not win any gold. The men’s hockey team made a comeback to the Olympics and became the first Indian representatives in a team sport. Sushil Kumar improved his bronze in Beijing to earn silver in men’s 66kg freestyle wrestling, making history as the first Indian athlete to win two individual Olympic medals. His was one of two medals that the Indian wrestling team won; the other was Yogeshwar Dutt’s bronze in the men’s 60kg division. India won two bronze medals in the shooting events: Gagan Narang in the men’s 10m air rifle and Vijay Kumar in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol. Additionally, two female Indian athletes won individual medals for the first time at London 2012. While Mary Kom took home the bronze in the inaugural women’s flyweight boxing event at the Olympics, Saina Nehwal became the first Indian badminton player to earn an Olympic medal.
Rio 2016: Sakshi and Sindhu come to the rescue
India entered the Olympics full of optimism, given their form in the shooting department and their London 2012 performance. However, until Sakshi Malik won bronze in the women’s 58kg wrestling, India had a breathtakingly barren run during the Games. As a result, she became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal in wrestling. Following a thrilling run to the final, PV Sindhu took home the silver medal in badminton.
Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021): a gold medal, records shattered, and finally, a hockey medal
A cautious optimism prevailed ahead of the Tokyo 2020 postponement. Prior to it, Neeraj Chopra had lit up the javelin throw world when the Indian women’s and men’s hockey teams were playing at their best. India had strong contingents in shooting and badminton, and wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia had won numerous medals in the lead-up. In the end, the Indian team took home a record-breaking seven medals. Neeraj won a gold medal, which was the nation’s first in athletics since Norman Pritchard in 1900 and its second individual gold in its independent history following Abhinav Bindra in 2008. In an exciting 5-4 victory over Germany, the men’s hockey team took home bronze, their first medal in the sport since 1980. Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu won silver in the women’s 49kg division. With her bronze in the women’s singles badminton competition, PV Sindhu became the second Indian after Sushil Kumar to win two medals at the Olympics. With her bronze in the women’s welterweight division, Lovlina Borgohain became the third boxer from India to earn an Olympic medal. In the 57kg men’s freestyle, Ravi Dahiya earned silver, and in the 65kg men’s freestyle, Bajrang took home the bronze. India won two medals in wrestling. The Indian team competed in a record 69 events and took home medals in eighteen different sports.