India's only medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics ended a 16-year wait, with Leander Paes winning bronze in men's tennis.
Key Facts
- Medals won
- 1 (bronze)
- Medal event
- Men's tennis singles
- Medallist
- Leander Paes
- Years since last individual medal
- 44 (since K.D. Jadhav, 1952) years
- Years since last medal of any kind
- 16 (men's hockey gold, 1980) years
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
India had not won an individual Olympic medal since K. D. Jadhav's freestyle bantamweight wrestling bronze at the 1952 Helsinki Games, and no medal of any kind since the men's field hockey team's gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, reflecting a prolonged drought in Indian Olympic performance.
India participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, fielding a delegation under the Indian Olympic Association. Leander Paes secured a bronze medal in the men's singles tennis event, the country's sole medal of the Games. Subash Razdan served as attaché and acting chef-de-mission for the Indian contingent.
Paes's bronze ended India's 44-year wait for an individual Olympic medal and broke a 16-year total medal drought, generating widespread national attention. The achievement elevated Paes's profile and renewed public interest in Indian tennis and Olympic competition.
Result
at Atlanta, United States