| Republic of India | ||
|---|---|---|
 National Flag | ||
| File:India.svg.png Location on Map | ||
| IOC Code | IND | |
| Years Hosted Olympics | none | |
| Years Attended Olympics | Summer: 1900, 1920-2012 Winter: 1964-68, 1988-92, 1998-2010 | |
| Medals 2012 Summer | 2 Silver, 4 Bronze | |
| Medals 2010 Winter | none | |
| Total Olympic Medals | ||
 Gold
|
 Silver
|
 Bronze
|
| 9 | 6 | 11 |
| National Olympic Committee | ||
| Indian Olympic Association | ||
India at the Olympics
India first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, with a lone athlete (Norman Pritchard) winning two medals in athletics. The nation first sent a team to the Summer Olympic Games in 1920, and has participated in every Summer Games since then. India has also competed at several Winter Olympic Games since 1964.
Indian athletes have won a total of 26 medals, mostly in field hockey, but this is changing. For a period of time, India's men's field hockey team was dominant in Olympic competition, winning eleven medals in twelve Olympiads between 1928 and 1980, including six successive gold medals from 1928–1956.
India gave its best performance in the 2012 London Olympics by winning 2 silver medals and 4 bronze medals.
India has won most of their gold medals from hockey.
Norman Pritchard
Norman Gilbert Pritchard was an athlete from India who went on to star in Hollywood and Broadway. He was of British descent and moved to England permanently in 1905.
Pritchard was born in Kolkata to George Petersen Pritchard and Helen Maynard Pritchard.
Pritchard was the first Indian athlete to participate in the Olympic Games. He was also the first athlete from India and first athlete representing an Asian nation to win an Olympic medal. He won two silver medals in the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. He came second in the 200 meters behind John Tewksbury of the United States and second in the 200 meters hurdles behind the legendary Alvin Kraenzlein of the United States. Pritchard set a world record in the second heat of the 100 metre hurdles which was bettered by Kraenzlein in the final. He reached the final of the 110m hurdles where he placed 5th, and participated in 60m and 100m sprint where he failed to qualify for the final.
In 2005 the IAAF published the official track and field statistics for the 2004 Summer Olympics. In the historical records section Pritchard was listed as having competed for Great Britain in 1900. Research by Olympic historians has shown that Pritchard was chosen to represent Great Britain after competing in the British AAA championship in June 1900. The IOC still regard Pritchard as having competed for India and his two medals are credited to India.
Pritchard won the Bengal province 100 yards sprint title for seven consecutive years, from 1894 to 1900 and set a meet record in 1898-99. He also won the 440 yards run and the 120 yards hurdles.
He studied at Saint Xaviers College, Kolkata, and is credited with the first hat-trick in an open football tournament in India, for Saint Xavier's against Sovabazar in July 1897.
He served as Secretary of the Indian Football Association from 1900 to 1902. He moved permanently to England in 1905.
He later moved to the United States, where he became a silent movie actor under the screen name Norman Trevor. He acted alongside Hollywood legends like Ronald Colman in movies like Beau Geste (1926), Clara Bow's father in Dancing Mothers(1926), and Tonight at Twelve (1929). He also appeared in several Broadway shows.
He died in Los Angeles of a brain malady.
India's medal history
| Games | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris 1900 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 17 |
| Antwerp 1920 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Paris 1924 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Amsterdam 1928 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24 |
| Los Angeles 1932 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 |
| Berlin 1936 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 |
| London 1948 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22 |
| Helsinki 1952 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 26 |
| Melbourne 1956 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24 |
| Rome 1960 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 32 |
| Tokyo 1964 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24 |
| Mexico City 1968 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 42 |
| Munich 1972 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 43 |
| Montreal 1976 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Moscow 1980 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 23 |
| Los Angeles 1984 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Seoul 1988 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Barcelona 1992 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - |
| Atlanta 1996 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 71 |
| Sydney 2000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 71 |
| Athens 2004 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 65 |
| Beijing 2008 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 50 |
| London 2012 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 55 |
| Total | 9 | 6 | 11 | 26 |
India as host
India hosted the 2010 commonwealth games but have not hosted the Olympic games.
The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games, were held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010. A total of 6,081 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports and 272 events. It was the largest international multi-sport event to be staged in Delhi and India, eclipsing the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982.
The opening and closing ceremonies were held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main stadium of the event. It was the first time that the Commonwealth Games were held in India and the second time it was held in Asia after Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1998. The official mascot of the Games was Shera and the official song of the Games, "Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto", was composed by celebrated Indian musician A.R. Rahman.
Initially, several concerns and controversies surfaced before the start of the Games. Despite these concerns, all member nations of the Commonwealth of Nations participated in the event, except Fiji, which is suspended from the Commonwealth, and Tokelau, which didn't send a team. A widely-praised opening ceremony helped improve the image of the Games. The concerns raised during the buildup to the Games proved largely unfounded as most events progressed smoothly. The opening ceremony played a key role in improving the image of the Games. As athletes arrived and competitions started, many earlier critics changed their view. The Australian Sports Minister said that India could now aim for the Olympics, and the President of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, said that India had made a good foundation for a future Olympics bid. As the Games concluded, many observers remarked that they began on an apprehensive note, but were an exceptional experience with a largely positive ending. Some observers accused sections of the media of bias, unfair expectations, and negative reporting. The final medal tally was led by Australia. The host nation India gave its strongest performance yet to emerge second, while England placed third. The day after the conclusion of the Games, the Indian Government announced the formation of a special investigation committee to probe the allegations of corruption and mismanagement that had marred the buildup to the Games.