India at the 2016 Summer Olympics | |
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IOC code | IND |
NOC | Indian Olympic Association |
Website | olympic |
in Rio de Janeiro | |
Competitors | 117 in 15 sports |
Flag bearers | Abhinav Bindra (opening)[1] Sakshi Malik (closing)[2] |
Medals Ranked 67th |
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Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |
India competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Indian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympics since 1920, although they made their official debut at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris.
117 Indian athletes participated in Rio 2016, 63 men and 54 women, across 15 sports at the Games. It was one of the nation's largest ever delegations sent to the Olympics, due to the historic comeback of the women's field hockey squad after 36 years and the proliferation of track and field athletes making the cut.[3][4] Among the sporting events represented by its athletes, India made its Olympic debut in golf (new to the 2016 Games) and women's artistic gymnastics.
The Indian roster featured three Olympic medalists from London, including badminton star Saina Nehwal, freestyle wrestler and four-time Olympian Yogeshwar Dutt, and rifle shooter Gagan Narang. Tennis ace and 1996 bronze medalist Leander Paes topped the roster lineup by competing at his record seventh Olympics, while air rifle marksman Abhinav Bindra, who became the nation's first and only individual gold medalist in history (2008), led the Indian delegation as the flag bearer in the opening ceremony at his fifth consecutive Games.[1][5] Other notable Indian athletes also included tennis player Sania Mirza in the women's doubles, artistic gymnast and Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Dipa Karmakar, and multiple-time world medalist Jitu Rai in men's pistol shooting.[3]
India left Rio de Janeiro with two medals.[6][7] These medals were won only by female athletes for the first time in history, a silver to badminton player P. V. Sindhu in the women's singles, who became India's youngest individual Olympic medallist and the first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver, as well as a bronze to freestyle wrestler Sakshi Malik in the women's 58 kg, who became the first female wrestler from India to win an Olympic medal. Several Indian athletes came close to increasing the medal haul, finishing in fourth place, including tennis tandem Mirza and Rohan Bopanna in the mixed doubles; Bindra, who narrowly missed out the podium by a half-point in the men's 10 m air rifle before retiring from the sport; and Karmakar, who surprised the global audience with her high-risk Produnova routine in the women's vault.[8][9] For the first time, the Indian shooters failed to earn a single medal since 2004, and the boxers since 2008.[6]