India's Olympic medals, from the first medal to Paris 2024
India's Olympic medals at a glance — 41 in all up to Paris 2024, 10 of them gold, hockey's eight golds and the historic moments of Bindra, Neeraj and Manu Bhaker.
Rohit Tandon · 18 October 2026 · 4 min read
Winning an Olympic medal is the greatest dream of any athlete. Since 1900 India has won many memorable medals — from the golden age of hockey to Neeraj Chopra's javelin. Here is the full story of India's Olympic medals: how many there are, who won the first ones, and which records are still remembered today.
India's Olympic medals: the total
Up to Paris 2024, India has won 41 medals at the Summer Olympics — 10 gold, 10 silver and 21 bronze. These include Norman Pritchard's two silvers from 1900, which the International Olympic Committee counts for India.
| Medal | Count | What stands out |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | 10 | 8 in hockey, 1 in shooting (Bindra), 1 in athletics (Neeraj) |
| Silver | 10 | Shooting, wrestling, badminton, weightlifting, athletics and hockey |
| Bronze | 21 | Most in wrestling, shooting, boxing and hockey |
| Total | 41 | The best haul came at Tokyo 2020 — 7 medals |
India's individual gold medals
- Abhinav Bindra, Beijing 2008: India's first individual Olympic gold, in the 10 m air rifle — read Abhinav Bindra's profile.
- Neeraj Chopra, Tokyo 2020: India's first Olympic gold in athletics, with a javelin throw of 87.58 metres. At Paris 2024 he won silver — read more about Neeraj Chopra.
The "first" medals that made history
| Year | Athlete | Achievement |
|---|---|---|
| 1928 | Indian hockey team | India's first Olympic gold |
| 1952 | K.D. Jadhav | Independent India's first individual medal (wrestling, bronze) |
| 2000 | Karnam Malleswari | The first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal (weightlifting, bronze) |
| 2012 | Mary Kom | India's first medal in women's boxing (bronze) |
| 2016 | P.V. Sindhu | India's first silver in badminton; she also won bronze in 2020 |
| 2024 | Manu Bhaker | The first athlete of independent India to win two medals at one Games |
Did you know? Indians who have won individual medals at two different Olympics include Sushil Kumar (wrestling: bronze 2008, silver 2012), P.V. Sindhu (silver 2016, bronze 2020) and Neeraj Chopra (gold 2020, silver 2024).
India at Paris 2024
At Paris 2024 India won 6 medals — Neeraj Chopra's silver and five bronzes. Manu Bhaker won bronze in the 10 m air pistol and, with Sarabjot Singh, in the mixed team event. Swapnil Kusale won bronze in the 50 m rifle three positions, Aman Sehrawat in wrestling, and the men's hockey team won a second bronze in a row. Read the story of hockey's golden age in our article "The golden age of Indian hockey", published later today.
Why are Olympic medals so hard to win?
More than 10,000 athletes from about 200 countries take part in the Olympics, and each event has only three medals. Behind one medal there are usually 10–15 years of daily training, good coaches, nutrition, injury prevention and mental strength. Government schemes such as the "Target Olympic Podium Scheme" (TOPS) and "Khelo India" now support athletes from a young age, and the effect has been clear at the last few Games. India first sent a team to the Olympics at Antwerp in 1920, and has taken part in every Summer Games since then.
Key points
- Up to Paris 2024, India has 41 Olympic medals: 10 gold, 10 silver and 21 bronze.
- 8 of the 10 golds came in hockey.
- The first individual gold was won by Abhinav Bindra (2008).
- Neeraj Chopra won the first gold in athletics (2020).
- Karnam Malleswari is the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal.
Frequently asked questions
How many medals has India won at the Olympics?
41 medals up to Paris 2024 — 10 gold, 10 silver and 21 bronze.
Who won India's first individual Olympic gold?
Abhinav Bindra, in the 10 m air rifle at Beijing 2008.
India's athletes: Sports personalities · More articles: Interesting facts · Practise: General knowledge questions.
Sources
Found this useful? Share it.