India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

competed at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. India has appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympics since 1920, although it made its official debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. The nation sent its largest-ever contingent of 126 competitors to the 2020 Games. To date, the 2020 Summer Olympics are the most successful Games for India since its first regular Olympics appearance in 1920, with Indian Olympians winning 7 medals (1 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze). The Indian contingent participated in a record 69 events, and earned medals across 18 athletic disciplines. In the men's javelin throw,

Neeraj Chopra Neeraj Chopra (born 24 December 1997) is a track and field athlete from India. He is the reigning Olympic champion, silver medalist in the World Championship, and the Diamond League champion in Javelin throw. He is the first Asian athlete to win ...

won India's first-ever gold medal in athletics, the nation's second ever individual gold and first individual gold since the

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Olympics, won by Abhinav Bindra (

Shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles ...

). This was also India's first athletics medal since its first Olympics appearance as an independent nation in 1948, and its third overall after

Norman Pritchard Norman Gilbert Pritchard (23 June 1875 – 30 October 1929), also known by his stage name Norman Trevor, was a British-Indian athlete and actor who became the first Asian-born athlete to win an Olympic medal when he won two silver medals in ...

's silver medals in 1900.

Saikhom Mirabai Chanu Saikhom Mirabai Chanu ( Meitei pronunciation: /sái.kʰom mi.ra.bái cə.nu/; born 8 August, 1994) is an Indian weightlifter. 27-year-old Mirabai Chanu lifted a total of 201 kg to win the Gold Medal which was also India's third medal after at ...

won India's first-ever silver in women's weightlifting (49 kg), becoming the first Indian Olympic medallist in the sport since

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

. P. V. Sindhu won a bronze in women's badminton to become the first Indian female athlete and second Indian to win two consecutive Olympic medals in individual events (having won a silver medal in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

). The men's national field hockey team won the bronze medal, their first Olympic medal since 1980. The men's 4 x 400m relay team set a new Asian record of 3:00.25.

Aditi Ashok Aditi Ashok (born 29 March 1998) is an Indian professional golfer from Bangalore. She plays on the Ladies European Tour and LPGA Tour. She made her Olympic Games debut at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics i ...

in women's golf and Deepak Punia in men's freestyle wrestling (86 kg) both placed fourth in final rankings, as did the women's national field hockey team, which achieved its best performance since its Olympics debut in 1980.

Medalists

Competitors

Archery

Three Indian archers qualified for the men's events by reaching the quarterfinal stage of the men's team recurve at the

2019 World Archery Championships The 2019 World Archery Championships were held in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands from 10 to 16 June 2019. The event served as a qualifier for the 2020 Summer Olympics, with each men's and women's team that made the quarter-finals earning three quo ...

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Another Indian archer scored a shoot-off victory in the quarterfinal round of the women's individual recurve to book one of three available spots at the 2019 Asian Championships in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. The full Indian archery squad was officially announced on 8 March 2021, with veteran Tarundeep Rai and world-number-nine seed

Deepika Kumari Deepika Kumari (born 13 June 1994) is an Indian professional archer. Currently ranked the World No. 2, she competes in the event of archery. She won a gold medal in the 2010 Commonwealth games in the women's individual recurve event. She also w ...

slated to shoot at their third Olympics.

Athletics

Indian athletes further achieved the entry standards, either by reaching the qualifying marks or by world ranking, in the following track and field events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event): ;Track & road events ;Men ;Women ;Mixed ;Field events

Badminton

India entered four badminton players for each of the following events into the Olympic tournament based on the BWF World Race to Tokyo Rankings; one entry each in the men's and women's singles and a pair in the men's doubles.

Boxing

India entered nine boxers (five men and four women) into the Olympic tournament. Two-time Olympian Vikas Krishan Yadav (men's welterweight), 2014 Asian Games bronze medalists Satish Kumar Yadav (men's super heavyweight) and reigning Asian champion

Pooja Rani Puja or Pooja may refer to: Religion *Puja (Hinduism), a ritual to host, honor or of devotional worship, or one to celebrate an event *Puja (Buddhism), expressions of honour, worship and devotional attention * Puja, a wooden stick, sometimes leat ...

(women's middleweight), London 2012 bronze medalist and six-time world champion

Mary Kom Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom (born 01 March 1983) is an Indian amateur boxer, politician, and former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. She is the only woman to win the World Amateur Boxing Championship six times, the only female boxer to ha ...

(women's flyweight), 2019 world silver medalist

Amit Panghal Subedar Amit Panghal Vishisht Seva Medal (born 16 October 1995) is an Indian Army Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and an amateur boxer. He won silver medal at the 2019 AIBA World Boxing Championships in the Flyweight division. Panghal won a ...

(men's flyweight), and 2018 Commonwealth Games runner-up Manish Kaushik, along with Ashish Kumar (men's middleweight), Simranjit Kaur (women's lightweight), and reigning world championship bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain (women's welterweight), secured the spots on the Indian squad in their respective weight divisions, either by advancing to the semifinal match or by scoring a box-off triumph, at the 2020 Asia & Oceania Qualification Tournament in Amman,

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. ;Men ;Women

Equestrian

India entered one eventing rider into the Olympic equestrian competition for the first time in two decades, by finishing in the top two, outside the group selection, of the individual FEI Olympic rankings for Group G (Southeast Asia and Oceania).

Eventing

Fencing

India qualified one fencer for the first time. C. A. Bhavani Devi earned a spot in the women's sabre as one of the two highest-ranked fencers from the Asia and Oceania region, in the FIE Adjusted Official Rankings.

Field hockey

;Summary

Men's tournament

India men's national field hockey team The India men's national field hockey team represents India in international field hockey competitions, and is governed by Hockey India. The team was formerly under the control of Indian Hockey Federation. India was the first non-European team t ...

qualified for the Olympics by securing one of the seven tickets available and defeating

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

in a playoff at the

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...

leg of the 2019 FIH Olympic Qualifiers. ;Team roster ;Group play ---- ---- ---- ---- ;Quarterfinal ;Semifinal ;Bronze medal game

Women's tournament

India women's national field hockey team The Indian women's national field hockey team (nicknamed the ''Nabhvarna'') represents India in international field hockey, and is governed by Hockey India. Nabhvarna are currently ranked 6th in the FIH World Rankings, and are ranked as the b ...

qualified for the Olympics by securing one of the seven tickets available and defeating the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in a playoff at the

leg of the 2019 FIH Olympic Qualifiers. ;Team roster ;Group play ---- ---- ---- ---- ;Quarterfinal ;Semifinal ;Bronze medal game

Golf

India entered two male and one female golfer into the Olympic tournament.

Anirban Lahiri Anirban Lahiri (born 29 June 1987) is an Indian professional golfer. He has played on the Asian Tour, European Tour, PGA Tour and LIV Golf. Lahiri is recipient of the 2014 Arjuna Award. He is also recipient of "Sera Bangali" award (in 2015), g ...

, Udayan Mane and

are qualified directly among the top 60 eligible players for the men's and women's event. On 28 July 2021, Indian golfer Diksha Dagar received an invitation from the

International Golf Federation The International Golf Federation (IGF) was founded in 1958 and is the international federation recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the world governing body for golf. The IGF has two membership categories representing the ...

to complete in the women's individual event at the

following a late withdrawal of South African golfer

Paula Reto Paula Reto (born 3 May 1990) is a South African professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. Amateur career Reto played field hockey and ran track in her youth and did not start playing golf until 2005. She played with the Purdue Boilermakers ...

Gymnastics

Artistic

India entered one artistic gymnast into the Olympic competition. With the cancellation of the 2021 Asian Championships in

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...

, China, Pranati Nayak secured the last of two available places in the women's individual all-around, as the next highest-ranked gymnast vying for qualification from her continent at the

2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held in Stuttgart, Germany from October 4–13, 2019. The championships took place at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle, and was the third time the city of Stuttgart hosted the event following th ...

in Stuttgart,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. ;Women

Judo

India entered one female judoka into the Olympic tournament based on the

International Judo Federation The International Judo Federation (IJF) was founded in July 1951. The IJF was originally composed of judo federations from Europe and Argentina. Countries from four continents were affiliated over the next ten years. Today the IJF has 200 National ...

Olympics Individual Ranking.

Rowing

India qualified one boat in the men's lightweight double sculls for the Games by winning the silver medal and securing the first of three berths available at the 2021 FISA Asia & Oceania Olympic Qualification Regatta in

, Japan. Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage

Sailing

Indian sailors qualified one boat in each of the following classes through the

2018 Sailing World Championships The 2018 Hempel Sailing World Championships were held in Aarhus, Denmark, from 30 July to 12 August 2018. It was the fifth edition of the Sailing World Championships. It was the world championships for all disciplines used at the next olympics ...

, the class-associated Worlds, the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 Augus ...

, and the continental regattas, marking the country's return to the sport for the first time since

. M = Medal race
EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race
* = Discarded race not counted in the overall result

Shooting

Indian shooters achieved quota places for the following events by virtue of their best finishes at the 2018 ISSF World Championships, the 2019 ISSF World Cup series, and the 2019

Asian Championship An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics * Asia ...

, as long as they obtained a minimum qualifying score (MQS) by May 31, 2020. On 5 April 2021, National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) officially announced a squad of fourteen Indian shooters for the rescheduled Games, including the reigning Commonwealth Games champion

Manu Bhaker Manu Bhaker is an Indian Olympian who competes at airgun shooting. She represented India at the 2018 ISSF World Cup and won two gold medals. She is the youngest Indian to win a gold medal at the ISSF World Cup. She won the gold medal in women's ...

, Asian Games gold medalists

Saurabh Chaudhary Saurabh Chaudhary (born 12 May 2002) is an Indian sport shooter. He won the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in 10 m Air Pistol. He was the youngest Indian gold medalist at the Asian Games. He had earlier won gold medals and set a new junior ...

and Rahi Sarnobat in the pistol events, rifle marksman and two-time Olympian

Sanjeev Rajput Master Chief Petty Officer Sanjeev Rajput (5 January 1981) is an Arjuna Awardee Indian sport shooter from Yamuna Nagar, Haryana. He was a retired Junior Commissioned Officer in Indian Navy. Early life Rajput was born on 5 January 1981 to Krisha ...

(2008 and 2012), and the current world-number-one Divyansh Singh Panwar and

Elavenil Valarivan Elavenil Valarivan () is a sport shooter from Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, India. Elavenil represented India at the 2018 ISSF Junior World Cup and won a gold medal and she clinched silver in world university Games in 2019 after which she won gold at W ...

in the men's and women's air rifle, respectively. With a double starter (owned by Bhaker) securing quota places in two women's pistol events, NRAI opted to exchange the women's 25 m pistol (won by Chinki Yadav) for an additional place in the women's 50 m rifle 3 positions, eventually awarded to

Anjum Moudgil Anjum Moudgil (born 5 January 1994) is an Indian sport shooter. She is from Chandigarh and represents Punjab. She is supported by GoSports Foundation through the Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme. Early life Anjum took up shooting whi ...

. ;Men ;Women ;Mixed

Swimming

Sajan Prakash and Srihari Natraj became the first-ever Indian swimmers to qualify for the Olympic Games by breaching the ''A'' standard time. Maana Patel received entry via Universality Invitation.

Table tennis

India entered four athletes into the table tennis competition at the Games.

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (born 8 January 1993) is an Indian table tennis player, who is the highest ranked Indian, currently ranked at 39 in the world as of November 2022. He was a member of the Indian team that won back to back Gold medals in 201 ...

and

Sutirtha Mukherjee Sutirtha Mukherjee (born 10 October 1995) is an Indian table tennis player from Naihati, West Bengal. She has won national table tennis championship and also was just a part of gold medal winning Indian women's team at 2018 Commonwealth Games. M ...

scored the zonal-match triumphs for the South Asia zone to secure one of the five available places each in the men's and women's singles, while three-time Olympian Sharath Kamal Achanta and 2018 Commonwealth Games champion

Manika Batra Manika Batra (born 15 June 1995) is an Indian table tennis player. As of November 2020, she is the top-ranked female table tennis player in India and ranked 44th in the world as of November 22. She was awarded the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna i ...

notched the remaining spots on the Indian team, as the highest-ranked eligible table tennis players across all regional zones, at the Asian Qualification Tournament in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

Tennis

India entered two athletes into tennis by using

Sania Mirza Sania Mirza (; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she has won six major titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles i ...

's protected ranking of 9 in women's doubles category.

Sumit Nagal Sumit Nagal (born 16 August 1997) is an Indian professional tennis player. He won the 2015 Wimbledon boys' doubles title with his Vietnamese partner Lý Hoàng Nam, thus becoming the sixth Indian player to win a junior Grand Slam title. He i ...

qualified for men's singles after several players withdrew resulted due to a positive

COVID-19 test COVID-19 testing involves analyzing samples to assess the current or past presence of SARS-CoV-2. The two main types of tests detect either the presence of the virus or antibodies produced in response to infection. Molecular tests for viral p ...

or personal reasons.

Weightlifting

India entered one female weightlifter into the Olympic competition. Rio 2016 Olympian

finished second of the eight highest-ranked weightlifters in the women's 49 kg category based on the IWF Absolute World Rankings.

Wrestling

India qualified eight wrestlers for each of the following classes into the Olympic competition. Four of them finished among the top six to book Olympic spots in the men's freestyle (57, 65 and 86 kg) and women's freestyle 53 kg at the 2019 World Championships, while two additional licenses were awarded to the Indian wrestlers, who progressed to the top two finals of the women's freestyle 57 and 62 kg, respectively, at the 2021 Asian Qualification Tournament in Almaty,

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. Two Indian wrestlers claimed one of the remaining slots each in the men's freestyle 125 kg and women's freestyle 50 kg, respectively, to complete the nation's roster at the 2021 World Qualification Tournament in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. Freestyle wrestler (125 kg)

Sumit Malik Sumit Malik (born 9 January 1993) is a freestyle wrestler from India who competes in 125 kg category. He was gold medallist at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He has also been silver medalist at both the Asian Wrestling Championships and the C ...

was disqualified and the quota place he had claimed was stripped off following a positive doping test, hence leaving India with a total of seven wrestlers in the contingent. ;Freestyle

References

{{Country at games navbox, India, Olympics Nations at the 2020 Summer Olympics

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

2021 in Indian sport