📄 Revision sheet · YugMap
Sport
India at the Olympics
| 1896 | The modern Olympics begin: The first Olympic Games of the modern era were held in Athens, the birthplace of the ancient Olympics, in April 1896, with 241 athletes from 14 nations. Women first competed at Paris in 1900. |
| 1900; 1920 | India’s first Olympics: India’s Olympic journey began at the Paris Olympics of 1900 with just one participant. India sent its first official contingent to the Summer Olympics in 1920 and has taken part in every Summer Games since. |
| 1928 | Hockey: the first gold: India won its first Olympic gold in men’s hockey at Amsterdam in 1928, led by Dhyan Chand: the team scored 29 goals and conceded none. Under Dhyan Chand India won three golds in a row — 1928, 1932 and 1936. |
| Eight hockey golds: India holds a record eight Olympic gold medals in hockey, including six victories in a row. | |
| 2008 | Abhinav Bindra: the first individual gold: At Beijing 2008, shooter Abhinav Bindra won India’s first individual Olympic gold, in the 10 m air rifle. He was also the youngest ever to receive the Khel Ratna, in 2001, aged 18. |
| 7 August 2021 | Neeraj Chopra’s javelin gold: At the Tokyo Olympics, javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win an Olympic gold in athletics, with a best throw of 87.58 m. It was India’s seventh medal of those Games — the country’s highest ever tally. |
The Asian Games
| 1947 | An Indian idea: The Asian Games were first conceived by Prof. G. D. Sondhi, India’s member of the International Olympic Committee. The suggestion was first made at a conference of Asian countries held in New Delhi in 1947. |
| March 1951 | The first Asian Games, New Delhi: The first Asian Games were held in New Delhi in March 1951; President Rajendra Prasad declared them open at the National Stadium. Eleven nations sent 489 athletes to compete in six sports, and India finished second in the medal table, behind Japan. India hosted the Games again in 1982. |
Cricket
| 2024; 2026 | Men’s T20 World Cups: India’s men won the ICC T20 World Cup in 2024, and won the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup again in March 2026. |
| 2 November 2025 | The women’s World Cup: India’s women won the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, beating South Africa in the final on 2 November 2025. |
Chess
| 1991–92 | Viswanathan Anand, the first Khel Ratna: The first Khel Ratna, in 1991–92, went to chess grandmaster and former world champion Viswanathan Anand, together with Geet Sethi, who dominated English billiards through the 1990s. |
| 22 September 2024 | Double gold at the Chess Olympiad: At the 45th Chess Olympiad in 2024, India won gold in both the open and the women’s sections. |
| 12 December 2024 | Gukesh D, the youngest world champion: Aged 18, Gukesh D became the 18th and youngest-ever world chess champion, defeating Ding Liren of China in Singapore on 12 December 2024. |
The National Sports Awards
| 29 August | National Sports Day: 29 August is celebrated as National Sports Day: it is the birthday of the hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand, who scored over 1,000 goals between 1926 and 1948. |
| 1991–92; 6 August 2021 | Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna: India’s highest sporting honour was established in 1991–92 as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and renamed the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award on 6 August 2021. Karnam Malleswari was the first woman to receive it, in 1994–95. |
| 1961 | The Arjuna Award: Named after Arjuna of the Mahabharata and instituted in 1961, it was India’s highest sporting honour before the Khel Ratna. It is given for consistent good performance over four years. Footballer P. K. Banerjee was among the first 20 winners; hockey player Anna Lumsden was the first woman to receive it. |
| 1985 | The Dronacharya Award: Instituted in 1985 and named after Arjuna’s guru Drona, it is India’s highest honour for sports coaches. Athletics coach Renu Kohli was the first woman to win it, in 2002. |
| 2002 | The Major Dhyan Chand Award: India’s highest honour for lifetime achievement in sport, given since 2002. Its first winners were boxer Shahuraj Birajdar, hockey player Ashok Diwan and basketball player Aparna Ghosh. |
| 1956–57 | The MAKA Trophy: The Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) rolling trophy goes to the university with the best sporting record; the first, in 1956–57, went to Bombay University. |
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Years are from YugMap’s records; dates marked c. are approximate. Printed from yugmap.com.