1. 1948 – India wins Olympic hockey gold: Independent India won its first Olympic medal, with the men’s hockey becoming champions at the London Olympics.

2. 1951 – India wins the football gold at the inaugural Asian Games in New Delhi.

3. 1952 – K.D. Jadhav wins independent India’s first individual Olympic medal. He won bronze in wrestling at the Helsinki Game

4. 1956 – India reaches the Olympic football semi-finals – finishes fourth at the Melbourne Olympics and it’s still their best finish at the Games.

5. 1956 – India wins Olympic hockey gold, beating Pakistan in the Melbourne final.

6. 1958 – Milkha Singh wins independent India’s first Commonwealth Games athletics gold. He won the 440-yard race at Cardiff.

7. 1958 – Lila Ram wins Commonwealth Games wrestling gold: Ram became the first ever Indian to win a wrestling gold at the Games.

8. 1958 – Milkha Singh wins two Asian Games gold medals: He won 200m and 400m events.

9. 1960 – Milkha Singh finishes fourth in the Olympic 400m: Singh missed bronze by the barest of margins in Rome in one of the greatest individual performances by an Indian athlete at the Summer Games.

10. 1962 – India wins Asian Games football gold: India defeated South Korea in the Jakarta final to win its second Asian Games football title.

11. 1964 – India wins Olympic hockey gold, defeating Pakistan in the Tokyo final.

12. 1966 – India won their first ever Asian Games hockey gold, winning the title in Bangkok.

13. 1971 – India wins Test series in both the West Indies and England: Ajit Wadekar’s side records India’s first Test-series victories in both countries in the same year.

14. 1972 – India wins Olympic hockey bronze – their 10th successive Olympic podium finish.

15. 1975 – India won their first and only Hockey World Cup, beating Pakistan in the final in Kuala Lumpur.

16. 1980 – India win a record-extending eighth men’s hockey Olympic gold medal.

17. 1983 – India won their maiden ODI World Cup under the captaincy of Kapil Dev, dethroning two-time defending champions West Indies at Lord’s.

18. 1984 – P.T. Usha finishes fourth in the Olympic 400m hurdles. She missed the bronze by one-hundredth of a second at Los Angeles.

19. 1985 – Prakash Padukone wins the All England Open and becomes the first Indian to win the prestigious badminton championship.

20. 1986 – P.T. Usha wins four gold medals at the Asian Games. She won four gold and one silver medal in Seoul.

21. 1988 – Viswanathan Anand becomes India’s first chess grandmaster at the age of 18.

22. 1996 – Leander Paes wins Olympic bronze. He won men’s singles bronze in Atlanta and gave India its first individual Olympic medal in 44 years.

23. 1999 – Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi win the French Open men’s doubles title: The Indian pair wins its first Grand Slam men’s doubles title together.

24. 1999 – Paes and Bhupathi win Wimbledon men’s doubles: They add the Wimbledon title to their French Open triumph.

25. 2000 – Karnam Malleswari wins Olympic bronze. She became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal.

26. 2000 – Viswanathan Anand wins his first FIDE World Championship. He became first Indian and Asian to win the title.

27. 2001 – Pullela Gopichand wins the All England Open. He became only the second Indian after Padukone to win the title.

28. 2002 – Anju Bobby George wins Asian Games long-jump gold.

29. 2002 – India won its first and only gold in women’s hockey at CWG.

30. 2003 – Anju Bobby George wins World Championships long jump bronze. She became the first Indian to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships.

31. 2004 – Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore wins Olympic silver – India’s first individual Olympic silver medal in double trap shooting.

32. 2005 – Pankaj Advani completes the IBSF World Billiards Grand Double. He became the first player to win both the points and time-format world titles in the same year.

33. 2006 – Samaresh Jung wins seven medals at the Commonwealth Games. He clinched five gold, one silver and one bronze in Melbourne and receives the inaugural David Dixon Award.

34. 2007 – India wins the inaugural ICC World Twenty20. MS Dhoni’s team defeated Pakistan in the final in Johannesburg.

35. 2007 – Viswanathan Anand becomes undisputed World Chess Champion. He subsequently retained the title in 2008, 2010 and 2012.

36. 2008 – Abhinav Bindra wins Olympic gold and becomes India’s first ever individual Olympic champion.

37. 2008 – Vijender Singh wins Olympic boxing bronze – India’s first Olympic medal in boxing.

38. 2008 – Sushil Kumar wins Olympic wrestling bronze and ends India’s 56-year wait for a wrestling medal.

39. 2009 – Saina Nehwal wins the Indonesia Open Super Series. She became the first Indian, male or female, to win a BWF Super Series title.

40. 2010 – Sushil Kumar wins India’s first World Wrestling Championships gold.

41. 2010 – India wins a record 101 medals at the Delhi Commonwealth Games – 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 bronze medals.

42. 2011 – India wins the ICC ODI World Cup for the second time in their history and become the first team to win the competition as host.

43. 2012 – Saina Nehwal wins Olympic bronze and becomes India’s first Olympic badminton medallist.

44. 2012 – Mary Kom wins Olympic bronze becoming India’s first medallist in women’s boxing at the event.

45. 2012 – Sushil Kumar wins Olympic silver. He became the first Indian individual athlete to win two Olympic medals.

46. 2012 – Yogeshwar Dutt wins Olympic wrestling bronze. He joined Jadhav and Sushil Kumar as India’s Olympic freestyle wrestling medallists.

47. 2013 – Tendulkar becomes the first player to score 100 centuries in international cricket. Still the only player in 149 years to achieve this feat.

48. 2013 – India win the ICC Champions Trophy and captain MS Dhoni becomes the first to win all three major ICC limited-overs titles as captain.

49. 2015 – Sania Mirza becomes world No. 1 in women’s doubles: She became the first female Indian to reach the top of the WTA doubles rankings.

50. – Saina Nehwal becomes the first Indian woman to reach a World Championships singles final and clinch silver.

51. 2015 – Sania Mirza wins Wimbledon women’s doubles and became first Indian woman to win a Grand Slam doubles title.

52. 2016 – Sakshi Malik wins Olympic wrestling bronze – India’s first female Olympic wrestling medallist.

53. 2016 – P.V. Sindhu wins Olympic silver and becomes the first Indian woman to win an individual Olympic silver medal.

54. 2016 – Dipa Karmakar finishes fourth in Olympic vault – becomes the first Indian female gymnast to reach an Olympic apparatus final.

55. 2018 – Neeraj Chopra wins Asian Games javelin gold – the first Indian to win men’s javelin gold at the event.

56. 2018 – India records its then-best Asian Games medal haul: India wins 69 medals – 15 gold, 24 silver and 30 bronze – at Jakarta-Palembang.

57. 2018 – Vinesh Phogat becomes the first Indian woman to win Asian Games wrestling gold. She won the women’s 50kg freestyle title.

58. 2018 – India’s MC Mary Kom becomes first ever female boxer to win six gold medals at the IBA World Boxing Championships.

59. 2018 – Manika Batra became the first ever Indian to win a women’s TT singles gold at CWG. She also helped India win yellow metal in the women’s team.

60. 2019 – PV Sindhu wins the World Championships. She became the first Indian badminton player to win a world singles title.

61. 2021 – Neeraj Chopra wins Olympic javelin gold – India’s first Olympic athletics gold and also their first in track and field.

62. 2021 – Indian men’s hockey team wins Olympic bronze to end a 41-year Olympic hockey medal drought.

63. 2021 – Mirabai Chanu wins Olympic silver – first Indian to win a weightlifting silver at the event.

64. 2021 – India wins a record 19 medals at the Tokyo Paralympics: five gold, eight silver and six bronze medals.

65. 2022 – India wins its first ever Thomas Cup, defeating 14-time champion Indonesia to win the men’s badminton world team championship.

66. 2023 – Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty win India’s first Asian Games badminton gold. The pair won men’s doubles title in Hangzhou.

67. 2023 – India wins a record 107 medals at the Asian Games – 28 gold, 38 silver and 41 bronze medals, crossing 100 medals for the first time.

68. 2023 – Neeraj Chopra wins World Athletics Championships gold, becomes India’s first world champion in athletics.

69. 2023 – India wins a record 111 medals at the Asian Para Games: 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze medals in Hangzhou.

70. 2024 – India wins the men’s T20 World Cup, beating South Africa in the final to win its second ever title.

71. 2024 – Manu Bhaker wins two Olympic medals. She became the first Indian athlete to win two medals at a single Olympics since independence.

72. 2024 – India wins six medals at the Paris Olympics – one silver and five bronze medals.

73. 2024 – India wins both Open and Women’s Chess Olympiad gold for the first time.

74. 2024 – D. Gukesh became the youngest World Chess Champion. At 18, Gukesh defeated Ding Liren 7.5-6.5.

75. 2025 – India wins their first ICC Women’s ODI World Cup, defeating South Africa by 52 runs.

76. 2025 – India wins the ICC Champions Trophy, beating New Zealand by four wickets to become the first team to win the competition three times.

77. 2025 – India wins six gold medals at the Asian Archery Championships: India topped the medal table with six gold, three silver and one bronze, including historic individual recurve titles for Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat.

78. 2026 – India win a third ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title and become the most successful team in tournament’s history. They are also the first to defend the title.

79. 2026 – India wins its first Commonwealth Games judo gold medals: Asmita Dey and Harsh Singh win India’s first-ever CWG judo gold medals at Glasgow.

80. 2026 – Indian boxers win a record seven Commonwealth Games gold medals: India tops the boxing medal table at Glasgow 2026 with seven golds, the most boxing golds won by any nation at a single Commonwealth Games.