Indians who won an Olympic medal on their debut

India is fielding a total of 68 debutants at the 2024 Paris Olympics across sports which makes up 57.6 percent of the Indian contingent.

While debuting at the Olympics can be a lot of pressure, India has athletes who aced that pressure and won a medal on their debut at the Olympics.

Let's look at the remarkable Indian athletes who have won medals at their very first Olympics, etching their names in history and bringing pride to the nation.

Norman Pritchard, 1900 Paris Olympics

Norman Pritchard, made his Olympic debut in 1900 when he enrolled for the event while he was on a vacation in France. Pritchard competed in 6 different events, the 60m,100m,200m,110m hurdles, and 200m hurdles.

While he was eliminated in the heats of 60m and 100m, He clinched two silver medals at the games, coming second in the 200m behind the Tewksbury and winning the silver medal in the 200m hurdles behind the legendary Alvin Kraenzlein of the USA.

With this feat, Pritchard also became the first Asian to win an Olympic Medal.

Men's Hockey Team, 1928 Amsterdam Olympics - Gold

India made their Olympic debut in 1928 with Jaipal Singh Munda leading the Charge. India defeated Austria 6-0 Belgium 9–0, and Switzerland 5–0 en route to the historic final. led Indian hockey team went on to defeat the Netherlands in the gold medal match 3-0 with legendary Dhyan Chand scoring 2 goals.

Vijay Kumar - 2012 London Olympics - 25m rapid-fire pistol

Entered the tournament as a debutant, Vijay Kumar scored a brilliant 585/600 in the preliminary phase to book his spot in the six-men finals, placed fourth. In the finals, Vijay stunned World Champion Aleksey Klimonov of Russia and China’s Ding Fenj to clinch a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Vijay finished second behind Cuba’s Leuris Pupo who scored a world record-equalling score of 34 in the finals.

MC Mary Kom- 2012 London Olympics - Women's flyweight boxing

When women’s boxing made its debut at the 2012 London Olympics, Mary Kom punched her way into the women’s flyweight category. Mary Kom was defeated by eventual champion Nicola Adams and had to settle for a bronze medal.

PV Sindhu, 2016 Rio Olympics - Women's Badminton

While every Indian was expecting the victory of Saina Nehwal in the Rio Olympics, PV Sindhu took everyone by storm. Sindhu defeated Hungary's Laura Sarosi and Canadian Michelle Li to qualify for the round of 16.

In the pre-quarters, Sindhu stunned everyone when she cruised past Tai Tzu-Ying in straight sets. She then went on to beat Wang Yihan to face one of the toughest competitors, Okuhara in the semi-finals. Sindhu then went on to capitalize on her opponent's errors, stunned Okuhara, and made her way into the finals.

Sindhu eventually bowed out to Carolina Marin of Spain in a 3-set thrilling final that lasted 83 minutes and had to settle for the silver medal.

Sakshi Malik, 2016 Rio Olympics- Women's 58kg

The 2016 Rio Olympics was one of the competitions to forget for India when they managed to win only 2 medals from among 117 athletes that contested in the events. Even then Sakshi Malik was one of the 2 women who made India proud at the event clinching a bronze medal in the women’s 58 kg category.

Entered the games as a debutant, Sakshi managed to get past the initial rounds but eventually fell in the quarter-finals to Valeria Koblova. However, Sakshi was offered another chance to win the medal in the repechage rounds where she defeated Asian champion Aisuluu Tynybekova to clinch the bronze medal

Neeraj Chopra, 2020 Tokyo Olympics - Men's Javelin throw

Neeraj Chopra, etched his name in history on August 7th, 2021, becoming the first Indian athlete to claim Olympic gold. Even though Neeraj was a debutant at the Olympics, his performance never showed any kind of inexperience.

His second throw of 87.58 meters secured him victory in a star-studded javelin final that included Johannes Vetter, Julian Weber, Arshad Nadeem, and Jakub Vadlejch.

Ravi Kumar Dahiya, 2020 Tokyo Olympics - Men's freestyle wrestling

In the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Ravi won his first two bouts on technical superiority. He then went on to win against Kazakh wrestler Nurislam Sanayev despite him biting the Indian wrestler.

Ravi had to settle for the silver medal as he suffered a loss against Russia’s Zaur Uguev.

Bajrang Punia, 2020 Tokyo Olympics- Men's 65 Kg

At the Tokyo Olympics, Bajrang won the bronze medal in the men’s freestyle 65kg category, defeating Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan with a margin of in the bronze medal match.

Lovlina Borgohain, 2020 Tokyo Olympics - Women's welterweight

Lovlina made her Olympic debut by defeating Germany’s Nadine Apetz in the opening round and then faced former world champion Chen Nien-chin, she triumphed with a 4-1 victory in the quarterfinals, ensuring her first Olympic medal.

Although she was defeated by world No. 1 Busenaz Surmeneli in the semi-finals, Borgohain’s Bronze medal was a significant achievement.