Who was the First Indian Woman to Win an Olympic Medal?

By Balaji

Updated on: March 20th, 2023

The First Indian Woman to Win an Olympic Medal was Karnam Malleswari. She is a retired Indian weightlifter who won a bronze medal on September 19, 2000, in Sydney Olympics. In 1994 in Istanbul, she also became the first Indian woman to win a weightlifting world championship. She was given the Arjuna Award in 1994, and in 1999, she was given the civilian Padma Shri award and India’s highest sports honor, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

Table of content

1. First Indian Woman to win an Olympic Medal
2. Who was the First Indian Woman to Win an Olympic Medal?

First Indian Woman to win an Olympic Medal

Karnam Malleswari earned several medals at the World Championships. This includes the bronze medal in 1993 in Melbourne, the Gold medal in 1994 and 1995 in Istanbul and Guangzhou, respectively, and a bronze medal in 1996 in Guangzhou. Over the years, several Indian women have competed in the Olympics. So far, seven Indian women have taken home Olympic medals. They are Karnam Malleswari, Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal, P. V. Sindhu (twice), Sakshi Malik, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, and Lovlina Borgohain.

Sakshi Malik – She is a freestyle wrestler from India. In the 58 kg category, she took home the bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She was the first female wrestler from India to take home Olympic gold.
P V Sindhu – She is the first Indian to win the world championship in badminton. She is the first Indian woman to earn a silver medal at an Olympics. In 2020, she received the Padma Bhushan award as well.
Saina Nehwal – She is the first shuttler from India to win two gold medals in singles at the Commonwealth Games (2010 and 2018). In 2016, she was also given the Padma Bhushan award.

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