India at the 1984 Summer Olympics

India was represented at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, United States by the Indian Olympic Association. In total, 48 athletes, including 42 men and six women, represented India in seven different sports: athletics, boxing, hockey, sailing, shooting, weightlifting, and wrestling.

Although India did not win any medals, these Games are remembered for highlighting Indian women athletes. P. T. Usha came very close to winning a bronze medal in the 400 m hurdles, missing it by just 0.01 seconds. Shiny Abraham made history as the first Indian woman to reach the semi-finals of an Olympic event, achieving a personal best time of two minutes and 4.69 seconds in the women's 800 m. The Indian women's 4 x 400 m relay team also reached the finals and finished in seventh place.

Background

The Indian Olympic Association started in 1927, but India first joined the Olympics in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium. A man named Norman Pritchard from Calcutta also took part in the 1900 Olympics in Paris, France. India joined as its own country in 1948 in London, England, and has been in every Olympics since then. The 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, United States was India’s 15th time joining the games.

Competitors

In total, 48 athletes represented India at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, United States across seven different sports.

Sport	Men	Women	Total
Athletics	3	5	8
Boxing	2	—	2
Field hockey	16	0	16
Sailing	2	0	2
Shooting	7	1	8
Weightlifting	4	—	4
Wrestling	8	—	8
Total	42	6	48

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Eight Indian athletes took part in the athletics events. Shiny Abraham competed in the women's 800 m and the women's 4 × 400 m relay. Charles Borromeo ran in the men's 800 m, Chand Ram walked in the men's 20 km race walk, and Vandana Rao joined the women's 4 × 400 m relay. Gurtej Singh threw the javelin, while P. T. Usha and M. D. Valsamma raced in the women's 400 m hurdle and the women's 4 × 400 m relay. Geeta Zutshi ran in the women's 3,000 m.

Athlete	Events	Round 1		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
Athlete	Events	Time	Position	Time	Position	Time	Position	Time	Position
Charles Borromeo	800 m	1:51:52	5	Did not advance
Chand Ram	Men's 20 km walk	—N/a						1:30:06	22
Gurtej Singh	Men's javelin throw	—N/a						70.08	25

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
Athlete	Event	Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Shiny Abraham	800 m	2:04.69	4	2:05.42	16	Did not advance
Geeta Zutshi	3,000 m	9:40.28	8	Did not advance
P. T. Usha	400 meters hurdle	56.81	2	55.94	1	55.42	4
M. D. Valsamma	400 meters hurdle	1:00:03	5	Did not advance
M. D. Valsamma, Vandana Rao, Shiny Abraham, P. T. Usha	4 × 400 m relay			3:33.85	4	3:32:49	7

Boxing

Main article: Boxing at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Two Indian athletes took part in boxing at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Jaslal Pradhan competed in the light welterweight category, and Kaur Singh competed in the heavyweight category.

Field hockey

Main article: Field hockey at the 1984 Summer Olympics

India sent 16 athletes to compete in field hockey at the 1984 Summer Olympics. They were all part of the men's tournament. The athletes included Joaquim Carvalho, Mervyn Fernandis, Zafar Iqbal, Marcellus Gomes, Iqbaljit Singh Grewal, Romeo James, Charanjit Kumar, Somaya Maneypanda, Jalal-ud-Din Syed Rizvi, Mohammed Shahid, Vineet Kumar Sharma, Hardeep Singh, Pangambam Nilakomol Singh, Rajinder Singh, Ravinder Pal Singh, and Manohar Topno.

Sailing

Main article: Sailing at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Two Indian athletes took part in the sailing events. They were Dhruv Bhandari and Farokh Tarapore competing in the 470 class.

Shooting

Main article: Shooting at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Eight Indian athletes took part in the shooting events. Soma Dutta competed in the women's 10 m air rifle and women's 50 m rifle three positions. Baljit Singh Kharab joined in the men's 50 m pistol, while Mohinder Lal and Rajinder Kumar Vij both entered the men's 25 m rapid fire pistol. Bhagirath Samai competed in the men's 10 m air rifle and men's 50 m rifle prone. Mansher Singh and Randhir Singh took part in the trap event, and Harisimran Singh Sandhu joined the skeet competition.

Weightlifting

Main article: Weightlifting at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Four Indian athletes took part in the weightlifting events. They were Deven Govindasami in the –56 kg category, Mahendran Kannan and Manikyalu Malla Venkata in the –52 kg category, and Kamalakanta Santra in the –60 kg category.

Wrestling

Main article: Wrestling at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Eight Indian athletes took part in wrestling events at the 1984 Summer Olympics. They competed in different weight categories in freestyle wrestling. The athletes were Rohtas Singh Dahiya, Sunil Dutt, Jai Prakash, Gian Singh, Jagmander Singh, Kartar Singh, Mahabir Singh, and Rajinder Singh.