India competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. A total of 83 athletes, 60 men and 23 women, competed in 13 sports. Men's field hockey was the only team-based sport in which India was represented in these Olympic Games. India also marked its Olympic return in weightlifting, after the International Weightlifting Federation imposed a two-year suspension for the nation's athletes because of a doping scandal in Beijing.
The Indian team featured several Olympic medalists from Beijing, including rifle shooter and Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, who failed to advance into the final rounds of his event in London. Wrestler and Olympic bronze medalist Sushil Kumar, chosen by the Indian Olympic Association to be the nation's flag bearer at the opening ceremony, managed to claim another medal by winning silver in the men's freestyle wrestling.
This was India's 2nd most successful Olympics in terms of total medals, they won a total of 6 medals (2 silver and 4 bronze), doubling the nation's previous record (3 medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics). Two medals were awarded to athletes in shooting and wrestling. Female Indian athletes won two Olympic medals in one Games for the first time. The two athletes were badminton player and world junior champion Saina Nehwal, who became the first Indian athlete to win an Olympic bronze medal in the women's singles, and boxer Mary Kom, who lost to Great Britain's Nicola Adams in the semi-final match and received a bronze medal in the first ever women's flyweight event.
Medalists
Medal Name Sport Event Date Vijay Kumar Shooting Men's 25 m rapid fire pistol Sushil Kumar Wrestling Men's freestyle 66 kg Gagan Narang Shooting Men's 10 m air rifle Saina Nehwal Badminton Women's singles Mary Kom Boxing Women's flyweight Yogeshwar Dutt Wrestling Men's freestyle 60 kg
Medals by sportSportTotalShooting 0 1 1 2Wrestling 0 1 1 2Badminton 0 0 1 1Boxing 0 0 1 1Total 0 2 4 6
Medals by genderGender TotalMale0224Female0022Total 0 2 4 6
Competitors SportMenWomenTotalEventArchery 3 3 6 4Athletics 8 6 14 11Badminton 2 3 5 4Boxing 7 1 8 8Field hockey 18 0 18 1Judo 0 1 1 1Rowing 3 0 3 2Shooting 7 4 11 10Swimming 1 0 1 1Table tennis 1 1 2 2Tennis 5 2 7 4Weightlifting 1 1 2 2Wrestling 4 1 5 5 Total 60 23 83 55
Archery
Six Indian archers qualified for the London Olympics – 3 in women's recurve and 3 in men's recurve. Men AthleteEventRanking roundRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / ScoreSeedOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankJayanta TalukdarIndividual65053 (12) L 0–6did not advanceRahul Banerjee65546 (19) W 6–0 (14) L 3–7did not advanceTarundeep Rai66431 (34) W 6–5 (2) L 2–6did not advanceJayanta TalukdarRahul BanerjeeTarundeep RaiTeam196912colspan=2 (5)L 214 (27)–214 (29)did not advance
Women AthleteEventRanking roundRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / ScoreSeedOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankLaishram Bombayla DeviIndividual65122 (43)W 6–4 (11)L 2–6did not advanceDeepika Kumari6628 (57) L 2–6 did not advanceChekrovolu Swuro62550 (15) L 5–6did not advanceLaishram Bombayla DeviDeepika KumariChekrovolu SwuroTeam19389colspan=2 (8)L 210–211did not advance
Athletics
Fourteen Indian athletes qualified for the Athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard).:
Men Track & road events AthleteEventFinalResultRankBasanta Bahadur Rana50 km walk3:56:48 NR36Baljinder Singh20 km walk1:25:3943Gurmeet Singh1:23:3433Irfan Kolothum Thodi1:20:21 NR10Ram Singh YadavMarathon2:30:0678
Field events AthleteEventQualificationFinalDistancePositionDistancePositionVikas GowdaDiscus throw65.205 Q64.798Om Prakash KarhanaShot put19.8619did not advanceRenjith MaheshwaryTriple jump—did not advance
Women Track & road events AthleteEventHeatSemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankTintu Luka800 m2:01.753 Q1:59.69 SB6did not advanceSudha Singh3000 m steeplechase9:48.8613did not advance
Field events AthleteEventQualificationFinalDistancePositionDistancePositionMayookha JohnyTriple jump13.7722did not advanceSahana KumariHigh jump1.8029did not advanceSeema AntilDiscus throw61.9113did not advanceKrishna Poonia63.548 Q63.626
Key Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only Q = Qualified for the next round q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target NR = National record SB = Seasonal best N/A = Round not applicable for the event Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round
Badminton
5 Indian badminton players qualified for the London Olympics.
AthleteEventGroup stageEliminationQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankParupalli KashyapMen's singles W 21–14, 21–12 W 21–9, 21–141 QW 21–14, 15–21, 21–9 L 19–21, 11–21did not advanceSaina NehwalWomen's singles W 21–9, 21–4 W 21–4, 21–141 QW 21–14, 21–16 W 21–15, 22–20 L 13–21, 13–21W 18–21, 0–1retJwala GuttaAshwini PonnappaWomen's doublesL 21–16, 21–18 W 25–23, 16–21, 21–18 W 21–16, 21–153did not advanceValiyaveetil DijuJwala GuttaMixed doubles L 16–21, 12–21 L 12–21, 16–21 L 15–21, 15–214did not advance
Boxing
Eight Indian boxers qualified for the London Olympics.
Men AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankDevendro SinghLight flyweightW W 16–11L 18–23did not advanceShiva ThapaBantamweightL 9–14 did not advanceJai BhagwanLightweightW 18–8L 8–16did not advanceManoj KumarLight welterweightW 13–7L 16–20did not advanceVikas Krishan YadavWelterweightL 13–15did not advanceVijender SinghMiddleweight W 14–10W 16–15 L 13–17did not advanceSumit SangwanLight heavyweight L 14–15did not advance
Women AthleteEventRound of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankMary KomFlyweightW 19–14W 15–6L 6–11Did not advance
Field hockey
The Indian national Hockey team, on 26 February 2012, had qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics after winning the qualifying tournament against France with a score of 8–1.
India was placed in Pool B of the men's tournament.
Men's tournament
Roster
Group play All times are British Summer Time, (UTC+1).
11th–12th Place
This was the worst show ever by India at the Olympics.
Judo
There was only one Indian judoka at the London Olympics. AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsRepechageFinal / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankGarima ChaudharyWomen's −63 kgL 0000–0100did not advance
Rowing
India had qualified the following boats.
Men AthleteEventHeatsRepechageQuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalsTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankSawarn SinghSingle sculls6:54.044 R7:00:491 Q7:11.594 SC/D7:36.252 FC7:29.6616Sandeep KumarManjeet SinghLightweight double sculls6:56.604 R6:54.206 SC/Dcolspan=2 7:19.314 FD7:08.3919 Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; Q=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage
Shooting
Eleven Indian shooters qualified for the London Olympics, with seven male and four female competitors. India had earned 11 quotas in shooting events. India has been most successful in this category this year with Gagan Narang and Vijay Kumar winning bronze and silver medals respectively.
Men AthleteEventQualificationFinalPointsRankPointsRankAbhinav Bindra10 m air rifle59416did not advanceJoydeep Karmakar50 m rifle prone5957 Q699.14Vijay Kumar10 m air pistol57031did not advance25 m rapid fire pistol5854 Q30Gagan Narang10 m air rifle5983 Q701.150 m rifle prone59318did not advance50 m rifle 3 positions116420did not advanceSanjeev Rajput50 m rifle 3 positions116126did not advanceManavjit Singh SandhuTrap11916did not advanceRonjan SodhiDouble trap13411did not advance
Women AthleteEventQualificationFinalPointsRankPointsRankShagun ChowdharyTrap6120did not advanceRahi Sarnobat25 m pistol57919did not advanceHeena Sidhu10 m air pistol38212did not advanceAnnuraj Singh25 m pistol57530did not advance10 m air pistol37823did not advance
Swimming
India had gained a "Universality place" from the FINA.
Men AthleteEventHeatFinalTimeRankTimeRankUllalmath Gagan1500 m freestyle16:31.1431did not advance
Table tennis
India had won 2 quotas in table tennis. AthleteEventPreliminary roundRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankSoumyajit GhoshMen's singlesW 4–2L 1–4did not advanceAnkita DasWomen's singlesL 1–4did not advance
Tennis
India had won 7 quotas in tennis. Men AthleteEventRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankSomdev DevvarmanSingles L 3–6, 1–6did not advanceVishnu VardhanL 3–6, 2–6did not advanceMahesh BhupathiRohan BopannaDoubles W 7–6(7–4), 6–7(4–7), 8–6L 3–6, 4–6did not advanceLeander PaesVishnu Vardhan W 7–6(7–1), 4–6, 6–2L 6–7(3–7), 6–4, 3–6did not advance
Women AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankRushmi ChakravarthiSania MirzaDoublesL 1–6, 6–3, 1–6did not advance
Mixed AthleteEventRound of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankLeander PaesSania MirzaDoubles W 6–2, 6–4L 5–7, 6–7(5–7)did not advance
Weightlifting
India had won 2 quotas in weightlifting. AthleteEventSnatchClean & JerkTotalRankResultRankResultRankKatulu Ravi KumarMen's −69 kg136161671530315Ngangbam Soniya ChanuWomen's −48 kg7489771717
Wrestling
India had won 5 quotas in the following events.
Key: - Victory by Fall. - Decision by Points - the loser with technical points. - Decision by Points - the loser without technical points.
Men's freestyle AthleteEventQualificationRound of 16QuarterfinalSemifinalRepechage 1Repechage 2Final / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankAmit Kumar−55 kgW 3–1 L 1–3 Did not advanceL 0–3 Did not advance10Yogeshwar Dutt−60 kgW 3–1 L 0–3 did not advanceW 3–0 W 3–1 W 3–1 Sushil Kumar−66 kgW 3–1 W 3–1 W 3–1 colspan=2 L 0–3 Narsingh Pancham Yadav−74 kgL 1–3 did not advance14
Women's freestyle AthleteEventQualificationRound of 16QuarterfinalSemifinalRepechage 1Repechage 2Final / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankGeeta Phogat−55 kgL 1–3 did not advance L 0–3 Did not advance13
Controversies
Opening ceremony An unknown woman in civilian attire was seen walking at the head of the Indian Olympic team's march past during the Parade of Nations. Her presence attracted media attention throughout India and raised questions about security at the Olympic Games. The woman was subsequently identified as Madhura Nagendra (incorrectly referred to by some sources as Madhura Honey), a graduate student from Bangalore living in LondonJill Lawless (29 July 2012) India's Olympic Team Abuzz About Mystery Woman From London Olympics Opening Ceremony The Huffington Post. Retrieved 30 July 2012. and a dancer in a segment of the opening ceremony co-ordinated by Danny Boyle.Anil Kumar (30 July 2012). Olympic gatecrasher 'over-excited' Madhura, a dancer from Bangalore The Times of India. Retrieved 30 July 2012.