From Indian hockey team’s dominance to Neeraj Chopra’s throw: Indian gold medallists at the Olympics

From the Indian hockey team’s dominance of the Olympic arena from 1928 to 1956 to Abhinav Bindra winning India’s first individual Olympic gold, and Neeraj Chopra securing India’s maiden athletics gold medal at the Olympics, here are the Indian gold medallists at the Olympics.

Indian hockey team

Gold medal winning Olympic Games: 1928 Amsterdam, 1932 Los Angeles, 1936 Berlin, 1948 London, 1952 Helsinki, 1956 Melbourne, 1964 Tokyo, 1980 Moscow

The Indian Olympic team members and fans celebrate with sign at India-Pakistan hockey match final during the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964.
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THE HINDU ARCHIVES

Field hockey returned to the Summer Olympics during the Amsterdam Games in 1928, marking the beginning of India’s remarkable journey in the sport. The Indian team started with a gold medal in its debut appearance on the global stage and secured five consecutive gold medals thereafter.

In the 1960 Olympics, India began its campaign with impressive victories but suffered its first Olympic defeat — a narrow 0–1 loss to Pakistan in the final. This ended India’s streak of six consecutive gold medals and a 30-match unbeaten run.

India made a strong comeback at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, where, it won its preliminary matches and defeated Australia in the semifinals. This set the stage for a thrilling final against Pakistan, which India won to claim its seventh gold medal at the Games.

Led by captain V. Baskaran and guided by the strategic acumen of coach Balkishen Singh, the Indian team achieved a historic gold medal after a 16-year gap at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. This remains India’s most recent Olympic gold in hockey to date.

Abhinav Bindra 

Abhinav Bindra of India poses with his gold medal in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle Final at the Beijing Shooting Range Hall on day 3 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
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Getty Images

Gold medal winning Olympic Games: 2008 Beijing

An unstable wooden flooring had robbed air rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra of a medal in Athens. Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore had said then that Abhinav would be a World champion one day. Abhinav, who became a World champion in 2006 in Zagreb, beat defending champion Zhu Qinan in his backyard for the gold in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This ensured India’s first individual Olympic gold medal at the Olympic Games.

The Athens experience had helped Abhinav to be detached about the result, and prepare to be the best. A misaligned rifle before the final could have shaken the hardest of competitors, but Abhinav tuned it in no time to deliver the 10 best shots that helped him overcome a two-point deficit before the final!

Neeraj Chopra

Gold medallist India’s Neeraj Chopra celebrates on the podium during the victory ceremony for the men’s javelin throw event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
| Photo Credit:
AFP

Gold medal winning Olympic Games: 2020 Tokyo

Young hopeful Neeraj Chopra demolished the rest of the field in the men’s javelin throw at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 with his first two attempts in the competition and handed India its first Olympics gold medal in athletics.

Neeraj had just required one throw to qualify for the final. This by itself had given the country a lot of hope that its medal drought in track and field, after the narrow misses by Milkha Singh (Rome 1960) and P.T. Usha (Los Angeles 1984) would end.

Neeraj took control of the competition with his first two throws as favourite Johannes Vetter of Germany struggled and failed to make the best eight, who got three additional throws after the first three attempts. Neeraj had an opening effort of 87.03m and improved it to 87.58m with his second attempt.

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