Team India will be taking part in its 18th edition of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Birmingham. Apart from the four editions (1930, 1950, 1962 and 1986), India have participated in majority of editions of the Games, which began as the British Empire Games in 1930 in Ontario Canada.
Since their debut in 1934 in London, India have won 503 medals in the Games and will be hoping to add a lot more to the tally with its 205-strong contingent for the 22nd edition as they return to England. India’s medal hopes took a beating a couple of days before the start of CWG as one of the brightest prospects Neeraj Chopra pulled out of the competition due to fitness issues, following his silver medal win at the World Athletics Championships.
The Indian contingent will be participating in the events across 15 sports, namely Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Cricket, Cycling, Gymnastics, Hockey, Judo, Lawn Bowls, Squash, Swimming, Triathlon, Table Tennis, Weightlifting and Wrestling. While 12 members will be taking part in four sporting events in para CWG.
India won a medal on their debut in the Games in 1934, but the second medal came only in the 1958 edition. However, since then India have been winning medals consistently in the Games across various sports and in the 21st century, not only the tally has increased, but they have consistently finished in top 5 in the five editions since 2002 Manchester.
As India begin their medal challenge in Birmingham, here are some important statistics. Take a look:
1. First medal
India won their first medal in their maiden appearance in the games in 1934 in London in wrestling. Wrestler Rashid Anwar became the first Indian to win a medal at CWG when he achieved the after clinching a bronze medal in the men’s 74kg freestyle event.
2. First Gold medal
After no medals in two editions in 1938 and 1954, India won three in Cardiff, 1958 including their first-ever gold. ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh finished at the No. 1 sport in men’s 440-yard event while wrestler Lila Ram gave India its second gold winning the men’s 100kg freestyle event.
3. First women’s medal
The men dominated India’s medal tally in the first few editions even though participation from women had bugun in 1958 with Stephanie D’Souza and Elizabeth Davenport competing in track and field. The first women to win medals were Ami Ghia and Kanwal Singh when they won the bronze medal in women’s doubles event in Badminton in Edmonton 1978.
4. Most individual medals
This is not a surprise! Pistol shooter Jaspal Rana tops the list with 15 medals against his name. Rana dominated India’s shooting challenge in the 1990s and early 2000s before the likes of Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang entered the fray.
Rana has nine golds, four silvers and two bronze medals against his name.
5. India’s best tally in one edition – 101 medals in Delhi 2010
India’s best performance at CWG came at home in Delhi in the 2010 edition where they won a whopping 101 medals, including 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze and they finished second behind Australia, who had 177 medals in their name. Here’s a look at India’s best medal tally in the previous editions:
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Position |
| New Delhi, 2010 | 38 | 27 | 36 | 101 | 2nd |
| Manchester, 2002 | 30 | 22 | 17 | 69 | 4th |
| Gold Coast, 2018 | 26 | 20 | 20 | 66 | 3rd |
| Melbourne, 2006 | 22 | 17 | 11 | 50 | 4th |
| Glasgow, 2014 | 15 | 30 | 19 | 64 | 5th |
| Auckland, 1990 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 32 | 5th |
| Kuala Lumpur, 1998 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 25 | 7th |
| Victoria, 1994 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 24 | 6th |
| Brisbane, 1982 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 16 | 6th |
| Edmonton 1978 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 15 | 6th |
| Edinburgh, 1970 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 6th |
| Christchurch, 1974 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 15 | 6th |
| Kingston, 1966 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 6th |
| Cardiff, 1958 | 2 | 1 | – | 3 | 8th |
| London, 1934 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 12th |
6. Most medals in a sport – Shooting (135)India has secured 135 medals in shooting including 63 gold, the most in any sport followed by 125 medals in weightlifting including 43 gold. Wrestling also has provided India 43 gold medals and total of 102. Boxing comes at third spot with 37 medals and Badminton at fifth with 25. Table Tennis has 20 medals against its name while Athletics has 28 medals.
