Indian Olympic Association:

Introduction:

India first participated at the Olympic Games in 1900, with a lone athlete (Norman Pritchard)
winning two medals in athletics. The nation first sent a team to the Summer Olympic Games in 1920,
and has participated in every Summer Games since then. India has also competed at several Winter
Olympic Games since 1956. The National Olympic Committee for India - the Indian Olympic
Association, was created in 1927.

Foundation of IOA

Sir Dorabji Tata towards the end of 1919 first sowed the seeds for establishing a Sports body at National
level for promoting the Olympic Sport in united India. Sir Dorabjii Tata with the support of
Dr.A.G.Noehren then Director of YMCA established the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in 1927. Sir
Dorabji Tata and Dr. Noehren have become the Founder President and Secretary General respectively of
IOA.

Though no National Olympic Committee was formed in India, Sir Dorabji Tata fielded a token contingent
of 6 members i.e. four athletes and two wrestlers in the Antwerp Olympic Games in 1920. During these
Games Sir Dorabji Tata was elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and thus
became the first IOC member in India. Upon his return to India from Antwerp Olympic Games, Sir
Dorabji Tata, in association with Dr. A. G. Noehren began to search throughout India for talent in
athletics. This talent search aroused national interest in athletics and helped to promote the
organization.
In February 1924, the first ever Inter-State Athletic meet was organised in Delhi and an eight -member
Athletic team selected during this meet was sent for the Paris Olympic Games in 1924.
Sir Dorabji Tata and Dr. Noehren run the IOA activities until 1928. The mantle was then handed over to
Maharaja Bhupindra Singh of Patiala (1928-1938), and Prof. Guru Dutt Sondhi (1928-1952) respectively.
Sir Dorabji Tata continued as IOC member in India until his death in 1931.
The selection of the National teams is done by the respective National Federations and then
recommend to IOA for official sponsorship for participation in the Games being conducted under the
auspicious of the IOC, OCA, CGF and SAG. A special feature of the Indian Olympic Association is that, the
National Federations and the State Olympic Associations are affiliated/recognised to it. The main task of
the State Olympic Associations is to Promote the Olympic Sport and to ensure coordination among the
State Sports Associations.

The most important task in addition to sponsoring the National teams for Multi Sport Games is the
staging the National Games.
Participation history:

1900 Paris - Norman Pitchard only the person who lead the delegation from India. Pritchard came
nd nd
2 in 200 m (Silver medal) and 2 in 200 m (Silver medal)hurdles.

1920 Antwerp - The 1920 Olympics were the first to unveil the official five-ring Olympic flag. Three
athletes and two wrestlers represented India in 1920. None of them won any heats or rounds.

1924 Paris - With hockey dropped from the games due to lack of controlling authority, India sent 7
member athletics team to Paris from them In Marathon, Mahadeo Singh came in at the 29th position.

1928 Amsterdam - Led by Jaipal Singh, Indian field hockeyteam won gold emphatically defeating hosts
the Netherlands 3-0 in the finals, a winning streak that they would continue till the 1956 Games.

1932 Los Angeles - Only three nations participated in the field hockey and Indian hockey team still
finished with a gold medal.

1936 Berlin - The team thrashed Germany 8-1 for their third consecutive gold in the event. India had
also sent in teams from wrestling and swimming apart from athletics.

1948 London - Gold came in the hockey event, but Another notable performance came from Indian
football team lead by Dr. Talimeren Ao. Also, a 21-year old wrestler, Khashaba Jhadav finished with the
6th position in the freestyle category.

1952 Helsinki - Again the National hockey Team were able to capture gold, but a significant moment
came from the wrestling, Khashaba Jhadav won bronze in the Men`s Freestyle Bantamweight, he
became the first Indian origin person to win an individual Olympic medal for the country.

1956 Melbourne - Nothing have matched a 1-0 victory in the field hockey category over Pakistan for an
Olympic gold.

1960 Rome - The Olympic of disappointment and heartbreak for India as Pakistan ended Indias
dominance in hockey, by winning their first ever gold and National team finished with silver medal.

1964 Tokyo - India regained their Olympic hockey gold led by Charanjit Singh defeated Pakistan 1-0 at
the first ever Olympics to be staged in Asia. Gurbachan Singh Randhawa secured 5th place in the 110
hurdles

1968 Mexico - Indian hockey team managed for the bronze medal.

1972 Munich - It was called the Happy Olympics but ironically, the biggest tragedy in the Games history
came in this edition. India won another bronze in hockey. Mark Spitz set a world record when he won
seven gold medals in a single Olympics.

1976 Montreal - No medals for India in 1976 Games as Indian hockey team finished a disappointing 7th.
1980 Moscow - India won a record 8th gold in men`s hockey in a field of just six teams. Boxer Ganapathy
Manoharan impressed entering the third round. PT Usha made her Olympic debut at the Games in the
100 meter dash.

1984 Los Angeles - There were no medals for India in this year, but PT Usha & Milkha Singh had finished
with the 4th position in their respective category.

1988 Seoul - Nothing notable happened for India at this Olympics as PT Usha finished 31st in 400 metre
hurdles and the relay team failed to qualify finishing 7th in heats.

1992 Barcelona - Again Indian hockey team finished a disappointing 7th . In Tennis, the duo of Leander
Paes and Ramesh Krishnan lost in the quarter-final after winning two rounds.

1996 Atlanta - Leander Paes won a bronze medal in Tennis thus becoming the first Indian to win an
individual medal since KD Jadhav won bronze at the 1952.

2000 Sydney - Karnam Malleswari won a bronze medal in the lifting 110 kg in the Snatch and 130 kg in
the Clean and Jerk for a total of 240 kg, which made her the first Indian woman to win an Olympic
medal. The Indian hockey team finished 8th.

Role of IOA:

1. Deciding the organization of National Games

2. Maintaining liaison between the Government of India and member federations or associations

3. Protecting the amateur status of sportsmen

4. Promoting and developing the Olympic Movement

India in summer Olympics:

India competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, from 27 July to 12
August 2012.

The Indian Olympic Association sent the nation's largest delegation to the Games in Olympic
history.

A total of 83 athletes, 60 men and 23 women, competed in 13 sports.

Wrestler and Olympic bronze medalist Sushil Kumar managed to claim another medal by
winning silver in the men's freestyle wrestling
Indias performance:
Administration in Indian Olympic Association:

The executive council of IOA consist of president, secretary general and tresearor

The following are the brief administration of IOA

LIFE PRESIDENT
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENTS
ASSOCIATE JOINT SECRETARIES
ASSOCIATE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEMBERS
ARBITRATION COMMISSION
ATHLETES COMMISSION
DISPUTES COMMISSION
ETHICS COMMISSION
AFFILIATION COMMISSION
FINANCE COMMISSION
MEDIA COMMISSION
MEDICAL COMMISSION

Governering committee:

Since 26 April 2011, after the arrest of its president Suresh Kalmadi, Vijay Kumar Malhotra was
the acting president of the IOA up to 5, December, 2012. The current President, Secretary General and
treasurer of the IOA are N. Ramachandran, Rajeev Mehta and Anil Khanna respectively. The election
of Lalit Bhanot was considered controversial by some due to his alleged involvement in
the Commonwealth Games Scam. The International Olympic Committee suspended India's National
Olympic committee on 4 December 2012 because of government interference in its election process.On
11 February 2014, the International Olympic Committee revoked the ban enforced on Indian Olympic
Association. As a result, India returned to the Olympic fold after 14-months.