26 Indian sporting achievements in the last 26 years

A quarter of the 21^st century has already passed, and it is safe to say that this period has been the best in India’s sporting history.

With India emerging as a leading global economy during this period, it is not surprising that the progress trickled down to the sporting arena and Indians made their mark in prestigious international events.

Here are 26 terrific India’s sporting achievements in the last 26 years:

1.Abhinav Bindra became India’s first ever individual Olympic gold medalist at the 2008 Olympics.

2. Bindra and Manavjit Singh Sandhu started the trend of Indian excellence in the sport by becoming Shooting World Champions in 2006, following Rajyavardhan Rathore’s Olympic silver in 2004.

Today, Indian shooters are a formidable force in Shooting World Cups at both the junior and senior levels.

3. Neeraj Chopra won India’s first ever medal in athletics by winning the men’s javelin gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

4. Neeraj also became India’s first ever Athletics World Champion in 2023, bettering long-jumper Anju Bobby George’s bronze from 2003. Today Neeraj has created a javelin revolution in the country, with many young athletes aspiring to emulate him.

5. Indian 4×400 relay teams became a dominant force at the Asian Games by winning consecutive Golds across all 6 editions of the Games.

6. Field hockey saw a revival in the country in the late 2010s and 2020s, as the Men’s Team emerged as the best in Asia by winning two consecutive Olympic bronzes in 2021 and 2024.

The women’s game also saw a revival after decades.

7. Indians gained prominence in doubles and mixed doubles tennis. Leander Paes won as many as 16 Grand Slam Doubles titles from 2001-2015. Mahesh Bhupathi won 8 titles from 2001-2012, Sania Mirza won 6 from 2009-2016, and Rohan Bopanna won a single title each in doubles (2024) and mixed doubles (2017).

8. In badminton, Saina Nehwal became World Junior Champion in 2008, starting a badminton revolution in the country. She later won an Olympic bronze.

9. PV Sindhu became the World Champion in women’s singles badminton in 2019 (Basel). This was in addition to her two Olympic medals.

10. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty became the Men’s Doubles Champions at the Asian Games in 2023.

11. Indians excelled in compound archery in particular. After several years of being on the podium, Indians won 4 gold medals at the 2023 and 2025 World Archery Championships.

Indian compound archers also won multiple medals at the Asian Games.

12. In recurve archery, Deepika Kumari (2009), Komalika Bari (2021) and Parth Salunkhe (2023) became World Junior Champions, and India was the team champion in 2021.

Indian recurve archers have won multiple medals in senior-level Archery World Cups apart from podiums at the World Championships.

13. In boxing, MC Mary Kom won 6 Women’s World Championship titles from 2002 to 2018, apart from an Olympic bronze in 2012.

Her success led to the rise of several prominent women boxers, such as Lovlina Borgohain and Nikhat Zareen.

14. In wrestling, Sushil Kumar became World Champion in 2010, in addition to his Olympic bronze and silver from 2008 and 2012, respectively.

Following his success, a number of Indians won Olympic and World Championship medals in wrestling.

15. Weightlifter Karnam Malleswari became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal by winning the Women’s 69kg Bronze at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

16. Mirabai Chanu became World Weightlifting Champion in 2017. She later won an Olympic Silver in 2021.

17. Vishwanathan Anand won the Classical FIDE World Chess Championship in 2000, the first Indian to do so. He later won the undisputed Classical World Championships in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2012.

18. Dommaraju Gukesh, at 18 years of age, became the youngest ever undisputed Classical Chess World Champion in 2024.

19. The Indian team, comprising a number of teen prodigies, won the 45^th Chess Olympiad in 2024. This was after India were joint-winners with Russia in the Online Olympiad held in 2021.

20. The Indian Women’s Chess Team won the prestigious Gaprindashvili Cup in the 2022 and 2024 Olympiads.

21. In cricket, India won the 2011 World Cup, their first title since 1983.

22. India’s 2007 T20 World Cup win led to the emergence of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a tournament that changed world cricket forever and was a catalyst to the emergence of India as the economic powerhouse of the sport.

India won the T20 World Cup again in 2024.

23. The Indian women’s cricket team, after a number of near misses, won the ODI World Cup in 2025.

24. Sachin Tendulkar became the highest run-scorer and century-maker in Test and ODI cricket.

Virat Kohli broke Tendulkar’s ODI century record in 2023.

Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami respectively became the highest run-scorer and wicket-taker in Women’s ODI history.

25. In cue-sports, Pankaj Advani won over 25 Amateur World titles from 2003 to 2023 (both Billiards and Snooker).

In 2025, Anupama Ramachandran became the first Indian woman to win the Women’s Amateur World Snooker Championships.

26. India hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

Though initially met with controversies, the organisation of the Games improved over time and provided a launch-pad for many athletes named above. It showed that India can successfully host a multi-sport event.

The Future

India’s standing in global sports has improved substantially from 2000 to 2025, though the country is still not counted among the sporting superpowers.

With India set to host the Commonwealth Games again in 2030 and with an ambitious 2036 Olympic bid also on the horizon, the next quarter-century has the potential to be an even more decisive one for Indian sport.

Also Read:

• 4 of the Worst Coaches in Indian Cricket History
• ECB Specially Flies Out Shoaib Bashir to Zimbabwe to Train Under Mushtaq Ahmed During Ongoing U-19 World Cup