From PV Sindhu to Sushil Kumar, A Look at Top Six Most Successful Indians in Olympic History Ahead of Paris Olympics 2024
Now coming to some individual medalists. PV Sindhu has secured two Olympic medals in badminton, one at the Rio Olympics in 2016, where she won a silver in women's singles and 2020 Tokyo Olympics , where she won a bronze medal.
Mumbai, July 26: The Paris Olympics 2024 will officially kickstart from Friday with a glittering opening ceremony. India will be aiming to outdo their feats at Tokyo 2020, where they got seven medals, including a gold, two silver medals and four bronze medals. Let us look at most successful Indian Olympians ever. Paris Olympics 2024: India Men’s Hockey Team Captain Harmanpreet Singh Emphasises Importance of ‘Starting Well’ Against New Zealand.
1. Leslie Claudius and Udham Singh (Hockey)
These two hockey legends were part of India's three hockey gold medal-winning sides in their careers, from 1948–1960 and 1952–1964, respectively. India secured gold in 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1964 Olympics, while the 1960 Olympics in Rome were when India broke its streak of six golds and had to settle for a silver.
2. Dhyan Chand, Balbir Singh Sr, Ranganathan Francis, Randhir Singh Gentle (Hockey)
These hockey legends have won three gold medals each in field hockey for India. While Dhyan won his medals from 1928–1936, the other three were a part of yet another dominant Indian hockey unit, which won three Olympic golds from 1948 to 1956.
3. Roop Singh, Jaswant Rai, Govind Perumal, Jaswand Singh Rajput (Hockey)
These aforementioned Hockey legends have won two hockey golds each for India across different eras. Other than them, other Indian hockey stars with two hockey golds are, Carlyle Tapsell, Govind Perumal, Amir Kumar, Leslie Hammond, Broome Pinniger, Keshav Dutt, K. D. Singh, Raghbir Lal, etc. Leslie was part of the Indian side in 1928 Olympics side which kickstarted the era of Indian dominance in hockey.
4. PV Sindhu (Badminton)
Now coming to some individual medalists. PV Sindhu has secured two Olympic medals in badminton, one at the Rio Olympics in 2016, where she won a silver in women's singles and 2020 Tokyo Olympics , where she won a bronze medal.
5. Sushil Kumar (Wrestling)
One of the most successful Indian wrestlers ever. He has two Olympic medals to her name, with a bronze in 2008 Beijing Olympics and a silver in 2012 London Olympics in 66 kg weight category. Paris Olympics 2024: Harbhajan Singh Wishes All the Best to Indian Contingent.
6. Some notable firsts
Some Indian stars with just one medal are still regarded as highly successful because of their milestones. These are: KD Jadhav (first individual medalist [Bronze] of independent India at the 1952 Olympics in wrestling), Abhinav Bindra (India's first-ever individual gold at 2008 Olympics in shooting), Karnam Malleshwari (first Indian woman to win Olympic medal in 2000 Sydney, in weightlifting), and Neeraj Chopra (first-ever athletics gold medal at Tokyo 2020).