No golds for India: Why the world’s most populous country punches below its weight at the Olympics

New Delhi CNN —

The competition was tight until the very last shot. India’s Abhinav Bindra was level with his closest rival going into the final round of the men’s 10-meter air rifle at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Then, with a near-perfect shot, Bindra won India’s first-ever individual Olympic gold.

It was a historic achievement that many in India hoped could prove a turning point for the giant country following many decades of underperformance at the Olympics.

But 16 years, four Summer Games and just one additional gold medal later, those dreams have largely failed to materialize.

India, home to more than 1.4 billion people, is the world’s most populous country, according to the United Nations. In 2022, India surpassed Britain as the world’s fifth largest economy, and last year became one of just four countries to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon. And it’s led by an ambitious prime minister who has widespread influence on the global stage.

But when it comes to the Olympics, India punches below its weight.

Abhinav Bindra shows off India’s first-ever individual Olympic gold in the men's 10m air rifle shooting competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 11, 2008.

India won just six medals in Paris, falling short of its record haul of seven at Tokyo in 2021.

The United States, with less than a quarter of India’s population, topped the charts with 126 medals followed by China with 91.

India ranked 71st in the medal table, below nations with much smaller populations including Georgia, Kazakhstan and North Korea.

India has now won just 41 Olympic medals in total since its debut in 1900, all at the Summer Games.

“There is no doubt that India has been an underperformer in the Olympics and