India’s 51 Medal Winners at the 1951 Asian Games

The 1951 Asian Games, officially known as the First Asiad, marked the beginning of India’s journey at the Asian Games. Held in New Delhi from March 4 to March 11, 1951, the inaugural edition featured 11 National Olympic Committees and 489 athletes competing across six sports.

India made an impressive start on home soil, winning 51 medals — 15 gold, 16 silver and 20 bronze — to finish second in the medal table.

🥇 Gold Medal Winners — 15

1. Sachin Nag — Swimming, Men’s 100m Freestyle
2. Mahabir Prasad — Athletics, Men’s 10km Walk
3. Nikka Singh — Athletics, Men’s 1500m
4. Lavy Pinto — Athletics, Men’s 100m
5. Lavy Pinto — Athletics, Men’s 200m
6. Ranjit Singh — Athletics, Men’s 800m
7. Bakhtawar Singh — Athletics, Men’s 50km Walk
8. Madan Lal — Athletics, Men’s Shot Put
9. India Men’s Football Team — Football
10. India Men’s Water Polo Team — Water Polo
11. Chhota Singh — Athletics, Men’s Marathon
12. Makhan Singh — Athletics, Men’s Discus Throw
13. K. P. Thakkar — Diving, Men’s 3m Springboard
14. K. P. Thakkar — Diving, Men’s 10m Platform
15. Men’s 4×400m Relay Team — Athletics
    Amit Singh Bakshi, Govind Singh, Balwant Singh and Karnan Singh

🥈 Silver Medal Winners — 16

1. Kanti Shah — Swimming, Men’s 100m Backstroke
2. Somnath Chopra — Athletics, Men’s Hammer Throw
3. Kamineni Eswara Rao — Weightlifting, Men’s Middle Heavyweight
4. Marian Gabriel — Athletics, Men’s 200m
5. Kulwant Singh — Athletics, Men’s 800m
6. Pritam Singh — Athletics, Men’s 5000m
7. Teja Singh — Athletics, Men’s 400m Hurdles
8. B. Das — Athletics, Men’s 50km Walk
9. Baldev Singh — Athletics, Men’s Long Jump
10. Parsa Singh — Athletics, Men’s Javelin Throw
11. Roshan Mistry — Athletics, Women’s 100m
12. Women’s 4×100m Relay Team — Athletics
    Mary D’Souza, Roshan Mistry, Banoo Gulzar and Pat Mendonca
13. Men’s 4000m Team Pursuit Team — Cycling
    Dhangar Lhanguard, Raj Kumar Mehra, Madan Mohan and Gurdev Singh
14. Ashu Dutt — Diving, Men’s 3m Springboard
15. Amit Singh Bakshi — Athletics, Men’s 400m
16. Men’s 4×100m Relay Team — Athletics
    Lavy Pinto, Marian Gabriel, Ram Swaroop and Alfred Shamin

🥉 Bronze Medal Winners — 20

1. Netai Chand Bysack — Cycling, Men’s 1000m Time Trial
2. Jehangir Naegamwalla — Swimming, Men’s 200m Breaststroke
3. Men’s 4×100m Freestyle Relay Team — Swimming
   Isaac Mansoor, Bimal Chandra, Sambhu Saha and Sachin Nag
4. Dandamudi Rajagopal — Weightlifting, Men’s Heavyweight
5. Men’s 3×100m Medley Relay Team — Swimming
   Kanti Shah, Jehangir Naegamwalla and Sachin Nag
6. Bimal Chandra — Swimming, Men’s 400m Freestyle
7. Gurbachan Singh — Athletics, Men’s 10,000m
8. Kesar Singh — Athletics, Men’s 10km Walk
9. Kishen Singh — Athletics, Men’s Hammer Throw
10. Khurshid Ahmed — Athletics, Men’s Decathlon
11. Rohinton Noble — Cycling, Men’s 1000m Sprint
12. Marie Semoes — Athletics, Women’s High Jump
13. Barbara Webster — Athletics, Women’s Shot Put
14. Barbara Webster — Athletics, Women’s Javelin Throw
15. Govind Singh — Athletics, Men’s 400m
16. Ajit Singh — Athletics, Men’s 3000m Steeplechase
17. Surat Singh Mathur — Athletics, Men’s Marathon
18. Mary D’Souza — Athletics, Women’s 200m
19. Sylvia Gauntlet — Athletics, Women’s Long Jump
20. T. T. Dand — Diving, Men’s 10m Platform

A landmark beginning

India’s 51-medal haul at the First Asiad laid the foundation for what has become a long and remarkable Asian Games journey. Athletics was the dominant contributor, while India also collected medals in aquatics, cycling, diving, football, water polo and weightlifting.

More than seven decades later, the names of these 51 medal-winning performances remain part of the history of Indian sport and the Asian Games.