Introduction
According to Olympic 2024 News, The 33rd edition of the Summer Olympics will start on July 26 in Paris, the capital of France. Over 10,000 athletes will compete at the Paris Games for 19 days, featuring 329 events. India will field 113 athletes and has a total of 35 medals at the Games. Here are some of India’s unique records at the Olympic 2024 News.
Hockey: Dominance in Gold Medals
Eight Gold Medals in Hockey
India owns a total of 10 Olympic gold medals, with individuals winning two of those. The Indian men’s hockey team has won eight of these gold medals. Notably, the team secured six successive gold medals between 1928 and 1956 at the Olympics. Additionally, India won two more gold medals in hockey in the 1964 and 1980 editions.
India’s First Olympic Gold After Independence
As an independent nation, India won its first-ever Olympic gold medal in 1948. The Indian men’s hockey team defeated Great Britain 4-0 in the final to secure this historic gold medal. The final was famously known as the “Battle of Champions.” That year, the Indian team did not concede a single goal while scoring 29 times.
Record-Breaking Campaign in Tokyo 2020
Seven Medals in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021 due to the pandemic, saw India achieve its best-ever haul with seven medals. The medalists were:
- Mirabai Chanu (silver in weightlifting)
- Lovlina Borgohain (bronze in boxing)
- PV Sindhu (bronze in badminton)
- Indian men’s hockey team (bronze)
- Ravi Dahiya (silver in wrestling)
- Bajrang Punia (bronze in wrestling)
- Neeraj Chopra (gold in javelin throw)
Historic Individual Achievements
Abhinav Bindra: India’s First-Ever Individual Gold Medalist
Over a century after first competing at the Olympics, India finally opened its individual gold medal account in Beijing, 2008. Shooter Abhinav Bindra became India’s first-ever individual gold medalist by winning the men’s 10-meter air rifle event with a total of 700.5 points. Bindra also became the first Indian to hold the World Shooting Championships and Olympic titles simultaneously.
Neeraj Chopra: Historic Gold in Athletics
India’s third and only other athletics medal at the Olympics came after 121 years. Neeraj Chopra made history by winning a gold medal in the men’s javelin throw at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021). He secured India’s first-ever gold medal in athletics and became India’s second Olympics individual gold medalist after Bindra.
Boxing and Weightlifting Milestones
Two Olympic Medals in Boxing
India did not have an Olympic medal in weightlifting before this century. Karnam Malleswari ended this drought by clinching a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Games. It took two more decades for India to get another Olympic medal in weightlifting, which Saikhom Mirabai Chanu won with a silver in the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Multiple Individual Medals
Three Athletes with Multiple Individual Medals
The 2020 Games saw Chanu become the third athlete to clinch multiple Olympic medals for India. She joined Norman Pritchard (athletics) and Sushil Kumar (wrestling). India first participated in the Olympic Games in 1900 with lone athlete Pritchard, who won two silver medals. Sushil Kumar clinched bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games and followed it up with a silver medal in 2012.
Conclusion
India’s journey in the Olympics has been marked by remarkable achievements and historic milestones. From the dominance in hockey to individual gold medalists like Abhinav Bindra and Neeraj Chopra, India’s Olympic history is rich with unique feats. As the Paris Olympic 2024 News approach, the nation hopes to add more memorable moments to its illustrious Olympic legacy. Stay updated with the latest from IPL365.
