Indian women who have won Olympic medals: PV Sindhu headlines list
Eight Indian women have won nine medals at the Olympics. Weightlifter Karnam Malleswari was the first. Get the full list of Indian female Olympic winners.
India have achieved considerable success at the Olympics in the last few decades and Indian women athletes have contributed significantly to the nation’s glory at the highest level.
Indian athletes have won 41 medals across 25 Olympic Games to date. Eight women have claimed nine of these medals.
Indian badminton ace PV Sindhu is the only Indian woman to have won multiple medals at the Olympics - a silver medal in women’s singles at Rio 2016 and a bronze at Tokyo 2020. Manu Bhaker has also won two medals but her second was in a mixed team event.
Weightlifter Karnam Malleswari was the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal, a bronze at Sydney 2000.
Indian women Olympic medal winners
*Team medal not considered
Here’s a run-through of all the medals Indian women have won at the Olympics.
Karnam Malleswari, bronze medal - women’s 54kg weightlifting - Sydney 2000
Weightlifter Karnam Malleswari created history and became the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Olympics. During the Sydney 2000 Games, Karnam Malleswari lifted 110kg in the snatch and 130kg in the clean and jerk categories for a total of 240kg and finished the competition with a bronze medal. She is also the first Indian weightlifter (male or female) to win an Olympic medal.
Saina Nehwal, bronze medal - women’s singles badminton - London 2012
Former world No.1 Saina Nehwal put Indian badminton on the global map when she finished with a bronze medal in the women’s singles at the London 2012 Olympics.
Saina Nehwal clinched the medal after her opponent Wang Xin of the People's Republic of China retired due to injury during the bronze medal playoff match. The Indian badminton player had earlier lost in the semi-finals to China's top seed Wang Yihan 13–21, 13–21. Saina Nehwal became the first Indian badminton player to win an Olympic medal and has represented the country in three Summer Games (Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016).
Mary Kom, bronze medal - women’s flyweight boxing - London 2012
Star boxer Mary Kom etched her name in Indian sports’ history books by clinching a bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympics. The Manipuri boxer beat Poland’s Karolina Michalczuk and Tunisia’s Maroua Rahali in the first two rounds but lost her semi-final bout to Great Britain's Nicola Adams, settling for the bronze medal.
It was the first Olympic medal in boxing by an Indian woman and only the second after Vijender Singh’s bronze at Beijing 2008. Women’s boxing made its Olympic debut at London 2012.
PV Sindhu, silver medal - women’s singles badminton - Rio 2016
PV Sindhu built on what Saina Newhal had achieved at London 2012 and took Indian badminton a step further by reaching the women’s singles final at the Rio 2016 Games.
PV Sindhu lost the final to Spain’s Carolina Marin and finished with a silver medal after a hard-fought 83-minute title battle. Despite being the runner-up, PV Sindhu created history by becoming India's youngest individual Olympic medallist, a record which has since been surpassed. She also became the first Indian woman to bag an Olympic silver medal.
Sakshi Malik, bronze medal - women’s 58kg wrestling - Rio 2016
Indian wrestler Sakshi Malik won a bronze medal in the women’s 58kg category at Rio 2016 to become the first Indian woman to win a medal in wrestling at the Olympics.
After notching up wins in the earlier rounds, Sakshi Malik lost to Valeria Koblova of Russia in the quarter-finals. However, with Koblova making the final, Sakshi Malik entered the repechage round and came home with the bronze medal following an 8–5 victory over Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan. Sakshi’s win at Rio was a memorable one as she turned the bout on its head despite trailing 5-0 at one stage.
Mirabai Chanu, silver medal - women's 49kg weightlifting - Tokyo 2020
After a disappointing outing at Rio 2016, weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, with a total lift of 202kg, won the silver medal in the 49kg category at Tokyo 2020. With the feat, Mirabai Chanu of Manipur became the first Indian weightlifter to bag a silver at the Olympics.
Mirabai Chanu also became the second Indian weightlifter, after Karnam Malleswari, to win a medal at the Summer Games as well as the second Indian woman, after PV Sindhu, to win a silver medal at the Olympics.
Lovlina Borgohain, bronze medal - women’s welterweight (69kg) boxing - Tokyo 2020
Assamese boxer Lovlina Borgohain emulated the legendary Mary Kom by clinching a bronze medal at Tokyo 2020. Lovlina Borgohain defeated Germany’s Nadine Apetz in the round of 16 and outpunched Chinese Taipei’s Chen Nien-chin in the quarter-finals to secure herself a bronze medal.
However, Turkish world No. 1 Busenaz Surmeneli proved too strong for her in the semi-finals as the Indian finished with a bronze medal.
PV Sindhu, bronze medal - women’s singles badminton - Tokyo 2020
PV Sindhu added to her Rio 2016 silver medal by clinching bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. After cruising through the group stages and initial knock-out rounds, 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 clinch the bronze medal.
With the win, PV Sindhu became the first Indian woman and only the third athlete from the country - Sushil Kumar and Norman Pritchard - to win two individual Olympic medals. She also became the first Indian woman and only the fourth player in women's singles badminton to win medals at two consecutive Olympic Games.
Manu Bhaker, bronze medal - women’s 10m air pistol shooting - Paris 2024
Manu Bhaker won India's first medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics with a bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol shooting event. She thus became India's first woman to win a medal in Olympic shooting. A day earlier, she had become the first Indian woman to qualify for an Olympic shooting final in 20 years.
Manu Bhaker scored 221.7 to finish third in the eight-woman final. Oh Ye Jin of the Republic of Korea clinched the gold medal with the new Olympic record of 243.2 and was followed by her compatriot Yeji Kim, who pipped Bhaker to enter the gold medal round and won the silver with the final score of 241.3.