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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