India has achieved a commendable success at Olympics. Overall, India claims 35 medals across 24 Olympic Games to date.
Indian women athletes have also contributed to country’s pride, significantly. At Olympics, seven Indian women athletes have mustered eight medals.
PV Sindu, is the only Indian woman to have won multiple medals at the Olympics. Karnam Malleswari is the first Indian woman to earn a medal at Olympics.
Listing out the names of Indian women who have won Olympic Medals :
Karnam Malleswari – Bronze medal
The first Indian (male or female) to claim an Olympic medal was Karnam Malleswari. Weightlifter Malleswari, lifted 110kg in the snatch and 130kg in the clean and jerk categories for a total of 240kg.
The first Indian woman finished the competition with a bronze at Sydney Games 2000.
Saina Nehwal – Bronze medal
Saina Nehwal has represented India in three Summer Games (Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016). Saina was the first Indian player to win a medal in badminton at Olympics.
Presenting Indian badminton on a global platform, she won the bronze medal in women’s singles at the 2012 London Olympics.
Mary Kom – Bronze medal
Women’s boxing debuted in Olympics at London 2012. Mary Kom gave India the first woman Olympic medal in boxing. She finished with a bronze in the competition.
In the first two rounds, she beat Poland’s Karolina Michalczuk and Tunisia’s Maroua Rahali. But lost in semi-final to UK’s Nicola Adams.
Mary Kom’s medal was only the second medal by Indian in boxing at Olympics after Vijender Singh’s bronze at Beijing 2008.
PV Sindhu – Silver medal
After Saina Nehwal, it is PV Sindhu who took a step further in badminton at Olympics. This Indian woman reached the women’s singles final at the 2016 Rio Games. She lost the final to Spain’s Carolina Marin and finished with a silver medal after a tough 83-minute title battle.
Though a runner up, she recorded her name in India’s history as India’s youngest individual Olympic medalist.
Sakshi Malik – Bronze medal
Sakshi Malik was the first Indian female wrestler to bag a medal at the Olympics ( at Rio 2016). She entered the repechage round against Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan. With a 8-5 victory over Tynybekova, Malik grabbed the bronze medal at Rio 2016.
Mirabai Chanu – Silver medal
Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, with a total lift of 202kg, won the silver medal in the 49kg category at Tokyo 2020. This win came after a disappointing loss at Rio 2016. She became the first Indian weightlifter to clinch a silver at the Olympics.
After Karnam Malleswari, she is the second weightlifter to win a medal at the Summer Games. Also, after PV Sindhu, she is the second Indian woman to win silver at Games.
Lovlina Borgohain – Bronze medal
Assamese boxer, Lovlina Borgohain after Mary Kom is the second Indian woman to win a medal in boxing at Olympics. Lovlina Borgohain defeated Germany’s Nadine Apetz in the Round of 16 and outpunched Chinese Taipei’s Chen Nien-chin in the quarter-finals.
But in the semi- final she couldn’t win over Turkish world No.1 Busenaz Surmeneli at Tokyo 2020. Thus, settling for the bronze medal.
PV Sindhu – Bronze medal
Bagging the bronze medal at Tokyo 2020, PV Sindhu became the first Indian woman and only the fourth player in women’s singles badminton to win medals at two consecutive Olympic Games.
Earlier she won the silver medal at Rio 2016. PV Sindhu lost to second seed Tai Tzu-ying of Chinese Taipei 18–21, 12–21 in the semi-finals. She later defeated eighth-seed He Bingjiao of China in the playoff to bag the bronze medal.
READ MORE : How Many Medals India Won in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics ?
PV Sindhu became the first Indian woman to secure multiple medals. And after wrestler Sushil Kumar, only the second athlete from India to win two individual Olympic medals.
Indian women Olympic medal winners at a glance :
| Athlete | Medal | Sport (event) | Olympics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karnam Malleswari | Bronze | Weightlifting (women’s 54kg) | Sydney 2000 |
| Saina Nehwal | Bronze | Badminton (women’s singles) | London 2012 |
| Mary Kom | Bronze | Boxing (women’s flyweight) | London 2012 |
| PV Sindhu | Silver | Badminton (women’s singles) | Rio 2016 |
| Sakshi Malik | Bronze | Wrestling (women’s 58kg) | Rio 2016 |
| Mirabai Chanu | Silver | Weightlifting (women’s 49kg) | Tokyo 2020 |
| Lovlina Borgohain | Bronze | Boxing (women’s welterweight) | Tokyo 2020 |
| PV Sindhu | Bronze | Badminton (women’s singles) | Tokyo 2020 |
Tabinda Mir is a writer from Kashmir. She is an English Honours graduate and her interests primarily dwell in poetry and sports writing. She likes to cover Cricket as an avid fan. Apart from sports, her other publications include articles, poems and a letter to summer in the book titled, “Under The Summer Skies”.
Also, her leisure time activities include reading novels, poetry, non literary works, philosophies and writing poetry, short stories, articles on diverse themes.
