India at the Summer Olympic Games Quiz

Answer: 1900 Paris

India first participated in the Olympic Games at the 1900 games held in Paris. It was still a colony of the British but it participated under a separate flag.

Answer: One

There was only one athlete, Norman Pritchard who represented India at the 1900 Summer Olympics. He participated in athletics, entering five events and placing second in 200m and 200m hurdles.

Answer: False

India did participate in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and won a gold medal in Field Hockey for the third Olympic Games in a row. India didn't participate in the 1896, 1904, 1908 and the 1912 Olympics because of cultural and political reasons.

Answer: K. D. Jadhav

Kashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav won independent India's first Individual medal at the 1952 Helinski Olympics, when he bagged bronze in the Men's freestyle wrestling bantamweight category. He was the only individual from India to get a medal till 1996 Atlanta, when Leander Paes won bronze in the tennis tournament.

Answer: False

India did in fact win a Gold in the 10m air rifle in 2008, but the hero of this achievement was Abhinav Bindra and not Gagan Narang. By clinching the gold, Abhinav Bindra became the first Indian individual to win a Gold at the Olympics. He was given a hero's welcome upon his arrival back in his country and numerous cash rewards were announced to his name. Gagan Narang on the other hand won the bronze in the same event in 2012 London.

Answer: Leander Paes

Leander Paes, also known as "Lee" is an Indian tennis ace. He has won all four Grand Slam doubles titles, plus a bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in men's Singles. His father Dr. Vece Paes was a part of the Indian Field Hockey team that won the bronze medal in the 1972 Olympic Games.

His mother was the captain of the Indian women's basketball team (the team never qualified to play at the Olympics).

Answer: Milkha Singh

Milkha Singh, popularly known as "The Flying Sikh" is regarded as "The greatest Indian athlete ever". He was a refugee from Pakistan and came to Delhi in 1950. He joined the army in 1951 and, in 1960, he set a world record of 45.8 seconds in the 400m track event.

He lost in the 1960 Olympics final when he came fourth by 0.1 seconds, despite beating his previous best by 0.2 seconds. He is the father of ace Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh and husband of former Indian women's volleyball team member, Nirmal Kaur.

He was the first Indian male of independent India to have reached the final of a running event at the Olympics. His life was made into a film in 2013 titled "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" which were also the last words of his father.

Answer: Shooting

In 2004 Athens, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathode won silver in the men's double trap event, giving India its first-ever medal in shooting. Then in 2008 Beijing, Abhinav Bindra won gold in the men's 10m Air rifle event. It was India's first-ever Olympic Gold in an event other than Field Hockey -- India had previously won eight gold medals in Field Hockey (1928 t 1980) when the gold medal was won in shooting.

Answer: Saina Nehwal

In 2008, Saina Nehwal lost to Maria Yulianti of Indonesia. She is the former international no.2 and Indian no.1 women's badminton player. In 2012 London, she won in bronze medal match after Wang Xin of China was retired hurt.

Answer: Major Dhyan Chand

Major Dhyan Chand is considered as the greatest Indian hockey player and one of the greatest in the history of the game even after he played his last match in 1948. He won three Olympic golds as the captain of the Field Hockey team in 1928, 1932 and 1936.

He was posthomously nominated for the Bharat Ratna in 2013, the highest Indian civil award, making him the first sportsperson to be nominated.