India has won 35 medals at the Olympics, but 12 of those are for team sports. In total, 222 physical medals have been awarded to Indians. The successful men’s hockey teams from 1928-1936 and 1948-1964 have won many medals, but only a few Indians have more than one medal in individual sports.
There have been 37 Indians with multiple medals (a total of 88 medals) and 134 single medalists. Only 171 Indians out of several billion in the nation’s history have won Olympic medals.
Here are the India’s Top Olympic Medalists:
Four Olympic Medals
Udham Singh (Field Hockey)
- 1952 Gold
- 1956 Gold
- 1960 Silver
- 1964 Gold
Leslie Claudius (Field Hockey)
- 1948 Gold
- 1952 Gold
- 1956 Gold
- 1960 Silver
Both Singh and Claudius won four medals with India’s men’s field hockey teams. Singh has the edge as he was also the coach when India won bronze in 1968. Singh missed the 1948 gold due to a finger injury. They both played as half-backs, but Singh also played as a center-forward. Claudius was the first Indian to win four Olympic medals and the first hockey player worldwide to compete in four Olympics and earn 100 caps for his national team.
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Three Olympic Medals
Dhyan Chand (Field Hockey)
- 1928 Gold
- 1932 Gold
- 1936 Gold
Richard James Allen (Field Hockey)
- 1928 Gold
- 1932 Gold
- 1936 Gold
Dhyan Chand and Richard James Allen both won three consecutive gold medals for India. Dhyan Chand is considered India’s greatest hockey player with 33 goals in 12 games across three Olympics. Allen, as the goalkeeper, conceded only two goals in 10 games across three Olympics.
Balbir Singh Sr. (Field Hockey)
- 1948 Gold
- 1952 Gold
- 1956 Gold
Ranganathan Francis (Field Hockey)
- 1948 Gold
- 1952 Gold
- 1956 Gold
Randhir Singh Gentle (Field Hockey)
- 1948 Gold
- 1952 Gold
- 1956 Gold
Balbir Singh Sr. is known as the best center-forward in hockey history, with 246 goals in 61 games. He scored 22 goals in 8 games across three Olympics, including 5 in the final against the Netherlands in 1952. Francis was the goalkeeper, matching many of Allen’s feats. Gentle was a fullback who captained the team in 1956 after Singh Sr.’s injury.
Other Indians with three Olympic medals:
- Shankar Lakshman (2G 1S)
- Haripal Kaushik (2G 1S)
- John Peter (1G 1S 1B)
- Prithipal Singh (1G 1S 1B)
- Harbinder Singh (1G 2B)
Peter and Prithipal Singh are the only Indians to have won medals of all three colors.
Two Olympic Medals
Norman Pritchard (Men’s 200m sprint and hurdles)
- 1900 Silver x2
Sushil Kumar (Wrestling)
- 2008 Bronze
- 2012 Silver
PV Sindhu (Badminton)
- 2016 Silver
- 2020 Bronze
Norman Pritchard was India’s first Olympic medalist, earning two silvers at the 1900 Paris Games. There is some dispute about whether he represented India, but IOC records show he did. Sushil Kumar won bronze in wrestling at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and silver in 2012, making him the only Indian wrestler with multiple medals. PV Sindhu won silver in badminton at the 2016 Rio Olympics and bronze in 2020, making her the only Indian woman with multiple Olympic medals.
Other Indian men’s hockey players with two Olympic medals:
- Carlyle Tapsell
- Roop Singh
- Jaswant Rai
- Govind Perumal
- Amir Kumar
- Jaswant Singh Rajput
- Leslie Hammond
- Broome Pinniger
- Sayed Jaffar
- Keshav Dutt
- Grahanandan Singh
- K. D. Singh
- Raghbir Lal
- Joginder Singh
- Charanjit Singh
- Raghbir Singh Bhola
- Mohinder Lal
- Balkrishan Singh
- Rajendran Christie
- Balbir Singh Kullar
- Jagjit Singh
- Gurbux Singh
- Krishnamurthy Perumal
- Ajitpal Singh
- Harmik Singh
One, and Potentially More
Athletes like Neeraj Chopra, Lovlina Borgohain, Mirabai Chanu, PR Sreejesh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit Walmiki, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, and Gurjant Singh from the men’s hockey team could become multiple medalists if they win at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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