Achievements of India in Sports: The Greatest Sporting Achievements in India: Sports have a long history in India, dating back to the Vedic period. Ancient India’s physical culture was driven by religious freedom. The Atharvaveda mantra says, “Duty is in my right hand, and the benefits of triumph are in my left.” When it comes to an ideal, these words are comparable to the traditional Olympic Oath, which reads, “For the Honour of my Country and the Glory of Sport.”
India has made great strides in the evolution of Indian sports during the times when we have united as a nation, stood as one, and regained faith in ourselves. Let’s look back on India’s biggest sporting triumphs and recognize the athletes who made them possible.
Complete List of India’s Achievements in Sports
| Achievements of India in sports | Year |
| The first Asian Games Were Held in New Delhi | 1951 |
| 1st Olympic Medal For India: Khashaba Jadhav | 1952 |
| The first Indian to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal: Milkha Singh | 1958 |
| First Singles men’s Wimbledon semi-finals | 1960 and 1961 |
| India won the Hockey World Cup for the very first time | 1975 |
| Made Appalling effect on the world by hosting Asian Games in New Delhi | 1982 |
| 1st Cricket world cup victory in England | 1983 |
| Karnam Malleshwari won a bronze medal in weightlifting | 2000 |
| Pullela Gopichand won all the England Championship series | 2001 |
| Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore’s silver medal at Athens Olympics | 2004 |
| Abhinav Bindra became the first Individual gold medallist Form India | 2008 |
| India’s Second Cricket World Cup win | 2011 |
| Dipa Karmakar Finished 4th in Gymnastic solo event at Rio Olympics | 2016 |
| PV Sindhu became world Champion and a double Olympic medallist | 2019, 2016, and 2020 Olympics |
| Saurabh Chaudhary Smashed Asian Games Record | 2018 |
| Neeraj Chopra won India’s First Track and Field Gold in the javelin throw at the Tokyo Olympics | 2021 |
Greatest Achievements of India in Sports
1st Asian Games, 1951
With the Second World War long gone, a new dawn was dawning in Asia. Asia’s population saw a sharp increase in longing for freedom, brotherhood, and fraternity once colonialism ended. It took place at the Asian Relations Conference in New Delhi. Professor Guru Dutt Sondhi believed that the time was right to gain the support of other Asian leaders for the new athletic endeavor known as the “Asian Games.”
In 1951, the inaugural Asian Games were held in New Delhi. The Asian Games Federation was in charge of overseeing the competition from 1951 until 1978. Since 1982, the Olympic Council of Asia has overseen the Asian Games.
Khashaba Jadhav Olympics Bronze Medal, Helsinki 1952
Shri Khashaba Jadhav represented India in the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Games, where he set a record in the wrestling competition in Helsinki. After two fouls, he was unable to adjust to the mat and had to settle for a bronze medal. But first place is always impressive, and an Olympic medal is an Olympic medal.
Milkha Singh, 440 yards Gold Medal, 1958 Cardiff CWG
The Flying Sikh, Milkha Singh, was our first real sports star. He was the first Indian to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. He was encouraged to compete in one final race against Pakistani Abdul Khaliq in 1960 by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru after winning multiple gold medals at the Asian Games.
Known as both “The Flying Bird of Asia” and “The Fastest Man of Asia,” Khaliq was defeated by Milkha in the 1960 race. Milkha frequently broke world records, but his best result in the Olympics was fourth. He was unable to carry over this success.
Ramanathan Krishnan, Men’s singles semi-finals, 1960 Wimbledon
Lawn tennis is another sport in which we are underrepresented in singles events. Conversely, in 1960 and 1961, Ramanathan Krishnan reached the Wimbledon semifinals.
As an amateur, Roy Emerson won twelve Grand Slam singles championships. He lost to Ramanathan at Wimbledon. In his amateur and open careers, Rod Laver achieved a Grand Slam. He lost to Ramanathan in the Davis Cup.
World Cup Hockey, Malaysia, 1975
India won the Hockey World Cup for the first time in 1975.
The undervalued Aslam Sher Khan saved the day for the Indians in the semi-final match against the well-favored Malaysians. Then the big event arrived: a World Cup matchup with none other than Pakistan, the team’s longstanding foe. The highly skilled son of Dhyan Chand scored the World Cup-winning goal, while Surjeet Singh hammered in a penalty corner to provide the much-needed equalizer. It was possibly the pinnacle of Indian hockey. India is now the world’s dominant nation.
Achievements of India in sports: IX Asian Games, New Delhi, 1982
Asia was captivated by the amazing IX Asian Games, which were held in New Delhi from November 19 to December 4, 1982, and stunned the sporting community. Over a million fans descended on the seventeen sports venues every day to support the 4,595 young competitors from 33 countries taking part in the biggest Asiad since the Asian Games’ founding thirty-one years prior.
India ranked fifth overall. The host nation took home 57 medals in all, consisting of 13 gold, 19 silver, and 25 bronze.
Achievements of India in sports: Cricket World Cup win in England, 1983
The Indians proved they had mastered the one-day game in this match by bowling tightly, fielding more skillfully than any other Indian team, and never giving up. Their top bowlers were Madan Lal (17 wickets) and Binny (18 wickets), both of whom still hold World Cup records, while Kapil Dev led the batting averages. The three most productive batters overall were Gower, Richards, and Fowler, who all had batting averages in the 70s and scored over 350 runs.
Achievements of India in sports: Karnam Malleswari Olympics, Bronze Medal 2000
Indian weightlifter Karnam Malleswari created history by being the first female from her country to stand on the Olympic winner’s podium.
Her bronze medal in the 69 kg class marked India’s Olympic debut in Sydney. She was the first female Indian champion in history, regardless of the sport.
Despite recent claims that her form was declining, Malleswari battled like a champion in an incredible display. Many felt she was overweight and unfit to participate because she had only lately increased her weight category.
Given that the 69 kg category included one of the weakest Chinese competitors, it seems like everything worked out in the end. The stage was set for Malleswari to shine when Milena Trendafilova and Daniela Kunkelova, the Bulgarian pair, both faltered.
Sports Achievements of India: Pullela Gopichand, All England Badminton 2001
One of the biggest upsets in the history of the oldest tournament in the world was pulled off by Pullela Gopichand, who became the first Indian to win the Yonex All-England Open Championships in over 20 years.
Gopichand’s performance, which includes wins over Olympic champion Ji Xinpeng and world No. 1 Peter Gade, will be remembered for a very long time. The 10th seed was a little favorite to defeat Chen Hong.
Sports Achievements of India: Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore’s Silver Medal at Athens
Millions of sports fans back home were thrilled when India’s top shooter, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, won the country’s first-ever silver medal in the individual Olympic event on the fourth day of the 28th Olympic Games in Athens.
Rathore finished second in the men’s double trap shooting event. Rathore scored 44 points out of a potential 50 in the decisive round. He achieved the first-ever individual silver medal for India at the Olympics with a score of 179.
Sports Achievements of India: Abhinav Bindra’s Gold at the Olympics
On August 11, 2008, Abhinav Bindra became the first Indian to win a gold medal in an individual Olympic competition. Today, thirteen years ago, in Beijing, the capital of China, a shooter made a lasting shift around the globe.
He accomplished an amazing feat in the 10-meter air rifle competition at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He is a well-liked person in the nation, having received praise for his outstanding performance from throughout the nation.
India’s Second World Cup win
Twenty-eight years after their initial victory, India has won the World Cup twice. In the Mumbai final, they faced off against Sri Lanka, who were playing in their second consecutive World Cup final, and they broke several records: home teams had never won the title before, chasing teams had only won twice, and century-makers in finals had never ended up on the losing side.
When Lasith Malinga struck early to reduce India to 31 for 2, after a masterfully timed century by Mahela Jayawardene, the team looked against long odds. However, Gautam Gambhir steadied them with a strong 97. Then, instead of Yuvraj Singh, the captain came out at number five and played a memorable inning, fending off the threat posed by Muttiah Muralitharan, who was playing in his final game, and culminating proceedings with a magnificent six-ball that was clouted high over long-on, setting off celebrations that lasted throughout the entire night in Mumbai and throughout India.
The world champion, PV Sindhu
In the BWF World Championship 2019 final held in Basel, Switzerland, P. V. Sindhu emerged victorious over Nozomi Okuhara of Japan to claim the title of world badminton champion. Sindhu grabbed the desired gold medal after a lengthy wait, having previously won four medals: bronze in 2013, 2014, and silver in 2017 and 2018. Sindhu made history as the first Indian shuttler to win a world championship after taking home silver medals from the Rio Olympics in 2016 and the BWF World Tour in 2017. The world No. 5 shuttlers from Hyderabad achieved a remarkable feat and joined the pantheon of Indian sports legends who have also won world championships. The 24-year-old is the thirteenth Indian to take home the coveted medal from the Olympics. She finished the Olympics in Tokyo with a bronze.
The Gymnastic Goddess Of India
As the first Indian woman to qualify for the Olympics, Dipa Karmakar created history. India’s 23-year-old gymnast, Dipa Karmakar, made her maiden Olympic qualifying round. On August 14, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, she placed fourth in the women’s vault finals but did not take home a medal. The competition was won by American Simone Biles, who finished with a final score of 15.966. Dipa completed the Produnova vault, one of the hardest flips in gymnastics, with a final score of 15.066. In addition to being the first gymnast from India to make it to the vault finals in her first Olympics, Dipa was also the first in 52 years to qualify for the Olympics.
Saurabh Chaudhary smashes Asian Games Record
Saurabh Chaudhary broke the previous record in the men’s 10 meter air pistol competition at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. With a score of 240.7, he defeated Japanese athlete Tomoyuki Matsuda to win the gold medal. In June 2018, Saurabh went on to win the ISSF Junior World Cup after breaking the previous record in the 10 meter air pistol division. With a quota slot guaranteed for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Saurabh will be going for a podium finish.
Neeraj Chopra Gold Medal at Tokyo Olympics
Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field on August 7. He threw the javelin 87.58 meters to win the yellow metal at the Olympics in Tokyo. Right now, he is the second-ranked player in the world.
