You love sports. Every year the Olympics comes up with different heroes who win medals for their respective countries.
If you are an Indian sports enthusiast who gets goosebumps the moment you hear the national anthem being played after the victory, then this is the right place for you to discover a lot more about our heroes who have won different medals for our country.
If you would like to know who represented our country and made our country proud in the respective fields, keep reading till the end of the article.
1. NORMAN PRITCHARD [ATHLETE]
Norman Gilbert Pritchard was a British-Indian athlete who became the first Asian-born athlete to win an Olympic medal.
He won two silver medals in athletics at the 1900 Paris Olympics representing India. He won India's first medal at the Olympics in the 200 meters and the 200 meters hurdles.
Norman Pritchard [23 June 1875 - 30 October 1929]
2. KISHAN LAL [Field hockey player]
Kishan Lal was an Indian field Hockey player. He was selected for the 1940 Olympic team, but the Olympic Games of 1940 and 1944 were canceled due to the war.
The 1948 Olympics was being held in London. The Indian Team for the London games was an all-new team without a single player with previous Olympics experience.
The Indian squad for the 1948 London Olympics was announced on 14 June 1948, and Lal was named captain. The Indian hockey team won its first gold at the Olympics as an independent country, defeating Great Britain, 4-0.
After 28 years of continuous play, he retired from competitive hockey but remained connected with the game till 1976 as Chief Coach under the Railways Sports Control Board.
Kishan Lal [2 February 1917 - 23 June 1980]
3. ABHINAV BINDRA [Athlete]
Abhinav Bindra is a retired sport shooter. He is the first Indian to win an individual Olympic gold medal.
He is the first Indian to have held the world and Olympic titles concurrently for the men's 10-meter air rifle event, having earned those honors at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2006 ISSF World Shooting Championships.
Bindra has also won nine medals at the Commonwealth Games and three medals at the Asian games.
He is the recipient of the Padma Bhushan from the Government of India and is one of the top influencers of sport policy in the country.
He also served as a goodwill ambassador for the Rio 2016 Olympics Indian contingent, appointed to that post by the Indian Olympics Association (IOA).
On September 5, 2016, he announced his retirement.
ABHINAV BINDRA [28 September 1982 (AGE - 38) ]
4. MILKHA SINGH [Track and Field athlete]
Milkha Singh, also known as "The Flying Sikh," was an Indian track and field sprinter introduced to the sport while serving in the Indian Army.
He is the only athlete to win gold at 400 meters at the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games.
He also won gold medals in the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games. He represented Indian in the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
He was awarded the Padma Shri, Indian's fourth-highest civilian honor, recognizing his sporting achievements.
The race for which Singh was best remembered is his fourth-place finish in the 400 meters final at the 1960 Olympic Games.
milk SINGH [ 20 November 1929 - 18 June 2021]
5. KHASHABA DADASAHEB JADHAV [Wrestler]
Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav was an Indian athlete. He is best known as a wrestler who won a bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.
He was the first athlete from independent India to win an individual medal in the Olympics. He is the only Indian Olympic medalist who never received a Padma Award.
Khashaba was extremely nimble on his feet, which made him different from other wrestlers of his time. English coach Rees Gardner saw this trait in him and trained him before the 1948 Olympic games.
KHASHABA DADASAHEB JADHAV [January 15, 1926 - August 14, 1984]
6. YOGESHWAR DUTT [Wrestler]
Yogeshwar Dutt is an Indian freestyle wrestler. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he won the bronze medal in the 60kg category.
He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2013. He won gold medals at the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games.
He is one of the only 5 male wrestlers in India to win an Olympic medal. On 12 August 2012, Dutt provided a late boost to India's medals tally in the 2012 London Olympics by claiming a memorable bronze in the Men's Freestyle 60 kg.
YOGESHWAR DUTT [2 November 1982 (AGE 38)
7. SAINA NEHWAL [Badminton player]
Saina Nehwal is an Indian professional badminton player. A former world no. 1, she has won over 24 international titles, including Superseries titles.
She reached the world's 2nd in 2009; it was only in 2015 that she attained the world no. 1 ranking, thereby becoming the only female player from India and overall the second Indian player to achieve this feat.
She has represented India three times in the Olympics, winning a bronze medal in her second appearance.
In 2016, the Government of India conferred the Padma Bhushan - India's third-highest civilian award.
SAINA NEHWAL [17 March 1990 ( AGE 31)
8. PUSARLA VENKATA SINDHU [Badminton player]
Sindhu broke into the top 20 of the BWF World Ranking in September 2012 at 17.
She is the first Indian to become the Badminton World Champion and only the second individual athlete from India to win two consecutive medals at the Olympic games.
She rose to a career-high world ranking of No. 2 in April 2017.
Sindhu won her first superseries title at the 2016 China Open and followed it up with four more finals in 2017, winning the titles in South Korea and India.
PV SINDHU [5 JULY 1995 (AGE 26)]
9. NEERAJ CHOPRA [Athlete]
Neeraj Chopra is an Indian track and field athlete who competes in the Javeline throw. As of August 2021, he is ranked as world No. 2 by the World Athletics organization.
Chopra is the first track and field athlete to win a gold medal for India at the Olympics.
He is also the first track and field athlete from India to win at the IAAF World U20 Championship, wherein in 2016, he achieved a world under-20 record throw of 86.48m, becoming the first Indian to set a world record.
He is the youngest-ever Indian gold medalist in an individual event.
NEERAJ CHOPRA [24 December 1997 (AGE 23)
10. SAIKHOM MIRABAI CHANU [Weightlifter]
Saikhom Mirabai Chanu is an Indian weightlifter. She won the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Women's 49 kg category.
Mirabai Chanu has won the World Championships and multiple medals at the Commonwealth Games.
She was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India for her contributions to the sport. She was awarded the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award by the Government of India in 2018.
Her biggest achievement came in 2017 when she won the gold medal at World Weightlifting Championships held in Anaheim, California.
MIRABAI CHANU [8 August 1994 ( AGE 27)
These are only some of the people who have won the medals, whereas, in reality, several people have worked hard over the years to win a medal for our country.
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