Paris Olympics 2024: India’s flagbearers across editions of the Olympics

Double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and table tennis star Sharath Kamal will join an elite list of Indian athletes who have been assigned the role of an Olympic flagbearer.

The duo will take up the responsibility at the Paris games opening ceremony, scheduled to happen on July 26.

Over the years, several legendary athletes have led the Indian contingent at the opening ceremony, including India’s first individual Olympic gold medal winner Abhinav Bindra and hockey maestro Dhyan Chand.

Abhinav Bindra carries the Indian flag during the Indian contingent march at the 2016 opening ceremony.
| Photo Credit:
PTI

The first Indian Olympic flagbearer was Purma Banerjee, who carried the national flag at the 1920 Antwerp Games.

Football star Dr. Talimeren Ao happens to be the first Indian to be the Olympic flagbearer after India gained its independence.

Here is the full list of India’s flagbearers in Olympics:

• 1920: Purma Banerjee (athletics)
• 1932: Lal Shah Bhokari (hockey)
• 1936: Dhyan Chand (hockey)
• 1948: Talimeren Ao (football)
• 1952: Balbir Singh Sr (hockey)
• 1956: Balbir Singh Sr (hockey)
• 1964: Gurbachan Singh Randhawa (athletics)
• 1972: Desmond-Neville Devine Jones (boxing)
• 1984: Zafar Iqbal (hockey)
• 1988: Kartar Singh Dhillon (wrestling)
• 1992: Shiny-Abraham Wilson (athletics)
• 1996: Pargat Singh (hockey)
• 2000: Leander Paes (tennis)
• 2004: Anju Bobby George (athletics)
• 2008: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (shooting)
• 2012: Sushil Kumar (wrestling)
• 2016: Abhinav Bindra (shooting)
• 2020: Mary Kom (boxing) and Manpreet Singh (hockey)
• 2024: Sharath Kamal (table tennis) and PV Sindhu (badminton)