The 10th Asian Games were held in Seoul, South Korea, from 20 September to 5 October 1986. India entered the Games after its record 57-medal performance on home soil in New Delhi four years earlier.
The medal tally declined in Seoul, but India still finished 5th in the medal table with:
5 Gold | 9 Silver | 23 Bronze | 37 Medals
The defining story of India’s campaign was P. T. Usha, who won four of India’s five gold medals.
P. T. Usha Dominates Seoul
P. T. Usha produced one of the greatest individual performances in India’s Asian Games history.
She won gold in the:
- Women’s 200m
- Women’s 400m
- Women’s 400m Hurdles
- Women’s 4×400m Relay
She also won silver in the women’s 100m.
Her 200m, 400m and 400m hurdles victories accounted for three individual gold medals, while she joined M. D. Valsamma, Vandana Rao and Shiny Abraham to win the 4×400m relay.
The Indian women’s relay team also set an Asian Games record with a time of 3:34.58.
India’s only other gold medal came through Kartar Singh, who won the men’s 100kg freestyle wrestling title.
Athletics and Boxing Lead the Medal Count
Athletics and boxing were India’s most productive sports in Seoul.
| Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athletics | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| Boxing | 0 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| Judo | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Wrestling | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Shooting | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Equestrian | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Hockey | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Badminton | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Sailing | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Swimming | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Volleyball | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Weightlifting | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 5 | 9 | 23 | 37 |
Athletics and boxing together accounted for 18 of India’s 37 medals, almost half of the entire haul.
Boxing produced four silver and five bronze medals, making it one of India’s most consistent medal-winning sports at the Games.
Beyond Athletics
India’s medals came from 12 different sports, reflecting a broadening sporting base.
Khajan Singh won silver in the men’s 200m butterfly, becoming India’s only swimming medallist at the Asian Games between 1951 and 2010.
In equestrian, India won bronze in both team dressage and team eventing. The dressage team consisted of Jitendarjit Singh Ahluwalia, Ghulam Mohammed Khan and Raghubir Singh, while the eventing team comprised Ghulam Mohammed Khan, Adhiraj Singh, Raghubir Singh and Ishwar Singh.
India also won silver in sailing, bronze in badminton, two hockey bronzes, four judo bronzes, shooting medals, a weightlifting bronze and a volleyball bronze.
1982 vs 1986
| Edition | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Delhi 1982 | 13 | 19 | 25 | 57 | 5th |
| Seoul 1986 | 5 | 9 | 23 | 37 | 5th |
The decline from 57 medals in 1982 to 37 in 1986 was significant.
Gold medals fell from 13 to 5, while silver medals declined from 19 to 9. Bronze medals, however, remained relatively strong at 23.
Despite the smaller haul, India retained its 5th-place position in the Asian medal table.
Complete List of India’s 37 Medals
Gold Medals — 5
| Athlete / Team | Sport | Event |
|---|---|---|
| P. T. Usha | Athletics | Women’s 200m |
| P. T. Usha | Athletics | Women’s 400m |
| P. T. Usha | Athletics | Women’s 400m Hurdles |
| P. T. Usha, M. D. Valsamma, Vandana Rao, Shiny Abraham | Athletics | Women’s 4×400m Relay |
| Kartar Singh | Wrestling | Men’s 100kg Freestyle |
Silver Medals — 9
| Athlete / Team | Sport | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Shiny Abraham | Athletics | Women’s 400m |
| P. T. Usha | Athletics | Women’s 100m |
| Sahu Birajdar | Boxing | Men’s 51kg |
| Seera Jayaram | Boxing | Men’s 63.5kg |
| Daljit Singh | Boxing | Men’s 91kg |
| Jaipal Singh | Boxing | Men’s +91kg |
| Farokh Tarapore & Dhruv Bhandari | Sailing | Men’s 470 |
| Soma Dutta | Shooting | Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions |
| Khajan Singh | Swimming | Men’s 200m Butterfly |
Bronze Medals — 23
| Athlete / Team | Sport | Event |
|---|---|---|
| Chand Ram | Athletics | Men’s 20km Walk |
| Manjit Singh | Athletics | Men’s Discus Throw |
| Suman Rawat | Athletics | Women’s 3000m |
| Leroy D’Sa, U. Vimal Kumar, Ravi Kunte, Sanat Misra, Syed Modi, Prakash Padukone, Uday Pawar | Badminton | Men’s Team |
| G. D. Kamble | Boxing | Men’s 54kg |
| John Williams | Boxing | Men’s 57kg |
| Gopal Dewang | Boxing | Men’s 67kg |
| Manjit Pal Singh | Boxing | Men’s 75kg |
| Dhan Bahadur Gurung | Boxing | Men’s 81kg |
| Indian Women’s Hockey Team | Hockey | Women’s Hockey |
| Indian Men’s Hockey Team | Hockey | Men’s Hockey |
| Jitendarjit Singh Ahluwalia, Ghulam Mohammed Khan, Raghubir Singh | Equestrian | Team Dressage |
| Ghulam Mohammed Khan, Adhiraj Singh, Raghubir Singh, Ishwar Singh | Equestrian | Team Eventing |
| Sandeep Byala | Judo | Men’s 65kg |
| Cawas Billimoria | Judo | Men’s 95kg |
| Shyam Singh Gurjar | Judo | Men’s +95kg |
| Bannu Singh | Judo | Men’s Open Weight |
| Joydip Das, Bhagirath Samai, Ghisa Lal Yadav | Shooting | Men’s 50m Standard Rifle 3 Positions Team |
| Soma Dutta | Shooting | Women’s 10m Air Rifle |
| Gurunathan Muthuswamy | Weightlifting | Men’s 52kg |
| Suresh Kumar | Wrestling | Men’s 90kg Freestyle |
| Gurmukh Singh | Wrestling | Men’s 130kg Freestyle |
| Indian Men’s Volleyball Team | Volleyball | Men’s Volleyball |
The medal tally of 5 gold, 9 silver and 23 bronze is corroborated by the Olympic Council of Asia and historical medal records.
Why Seoul 1986 Matters
Seoul 1986 is remembered above all for P. T. Usha’s four gold medals, but India’s campaign also demonstrated a growing depth across multiple sports.
India won medals in 12 disciplines, with boxing producing nine medals and athletics another nine. Judo, shooting, equestrian, wrestling and the team sports added to the country’s total.
The overall haul was smaller than the record achieved at home in 1982, but India remained fifth in Asia.
And at the centre of it all stood P. T. Usha — four gold medals and one silver, firmly establishing herself as one of the greatest athletes in India’s Asian Games history.
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