For the AFCAT 1 2025 exam, candidates should have a solid understanding of major sporting events like the Olympics 2024 and Commonwealth Games. These global multi-sport events showcase top athletic talent, with many sports personalities making their mark. Let’s dive into the highlights of both events and their importance.
AFCAT 1 2025 Olympics 2024 & Common Wealth Games
Olympics 2024 – Paris, France
A total of 117 Indian athletes made up the contingent that went on the hunt for medals and sporting immortality at the Paris 2024 Olympics, which ran from July 26 to August 11.
In all, India won six medals – a silver and five bronze – at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Manu Bhaker won the first medal for India at the Paris 2024 Olympics. She bagged a bronze and became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic shooting medal. She then created history by becoming the first Indian to win two medals at a single edition of the Olympics after she clinched a mixed team 10m air pistol bronze with Sarabjot Singh.
Swapnil Kusale added a third medal in shooting to make it India’s biggest haul in a sport in a single edition of the Olympics.
The Indian men’s hockey team matched their Tokyo 2020 success with the bronze in Paris while Neeraj Chopra became the most successful individual Olympian after he claimed a silver medal in the javelin throw.
Later, Aman Sehrawat became India’s youngest Olympic medallist when he won bronze in wrestling.
However, India left the Paris 2024 Olympics with more heartbreaks than cheers. India missed out on six potential medals, most by a whisker, with the athletes finishing fourth in their respective events. This included Lakshya Sen, Mirabai Chanu and Manu Bhaker, who could have bagged her third medal at the Games.
Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification ahead of a historic final also added to India’s woes.
There was Indian interest in a total of 69 medal events across 16 sports – archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, equestrian, golf, hockey, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis and tennis – at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Neeraj Chopra, badminton ace PV Sindhu, weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, boxer Lovlina Borgohain and select members of the Harmanpreet Singh-led Indian men’s hockey team were the other returning Olympic medallists in the Indian contingent to Paris 2024.
Overall, India have won 41 medals at the Olympics to date. Interestingly, it was Norman Pritchard’s dual silver which opened India’s account in Paris 1900.
KD Jadhav, with a wrestling bronze at Helsinki 1952, was the first individual athlete from independent India to get on the Olympic medal winners list. Weightlifter Karnam Malleswari became the first woman to win an Olympic medal at Sydney 2000.
Rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra was the first Indian to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event at Beijing 2008 and was the only one to do so for over a decade before Neeraj’s javelin triumph at Tokyo 2020.
Men’s hockey, with 13 medals including eight golds, has been the biggest contributor to India’s Olympic medals tally followed by wrestling with eight medals.
India returned with its best-ever haul of seven medals, including one gold, from Tokyo 2020.
Paris 2024 Olympics: India’s medal winners
| No. | Athlete | Event | Sport | Medal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manu Bhaker | Women’s 10m air pistol | Shooting | Bronze |
| 2 | Manu Bhaker-Sarabjot Singh | Mixed team 10m air pistol | Shooting | Bronze |
| 3 | Swapnil Kusale | Men’s 50m rifle 3 positions | Shooting | Bronze |
| 4 | Team India | Men’s event | Hockey | Bronze |
| 5 | Neeraj Chopra | Men’s javelin throw | Athletics | Silver |
| 6 | Aman Sehrawat | Men’s freestyle 57kg | Wrestling | Bronze |
India won 61 medals at Birmingham 2022. Know India’s CWG 2022 medal tally.
From July 28 to August 8, nearly 200 Indian athletes competed for medals across 16 different sports at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham.
At the last edition at Gold Coast 2018, Indian athletes won a total of 66 medals, 26 gold and 20 silver and 20 bronze to finish third overall, behind hosts Australia and England.
However, shooting, which contributed 16 of the 66 medals at Gold Coast 2018, was cut from the Commonwealth Games program for Birmingham 2022.
In fact, 135 of India’s total tally of 564 medals at the Commonwealth Games have come in shooting – more than any other sport. This includes the 30 medals Indian shooters won during the 2010 New Delhi CWG – where India enjoyed their most successful Commonwealth Games in history, winning a total of 101 medals.
Tokyo Olympics javelin champion and world championships silver medallist Neeraj Chopra’s late withdrawal from CWG 2022 due to injury certainly left India one medal short.
In shooting and Neeraj Chopra’s absence, the onus was on the Indian wrestling contingent, featuring Olympic medallists Ravi Kumar Dahiya, Bajarang Punia and Sakshi Malik, and a strong badminton team, spearheaded by two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and world championships medallist Kidambi Srikanth and Lakshya Sen, to drive India up the medals table in Birmingham. The weightlifting team also carried the nation’s hopes.
At CWG 2022, Indian athletes won 61 medals, 22 golds, 16 silvers and 23 bronze, at the Commonwealth Games 2022. Sanket Sargar was the first Indian to win a medal in Birmingham, bagging a silver in the men’s 55kg weightlifting event. Mirabai Chanu was the first Indian to win a gold at CWG 2022 while Jeremy Lalrinnunga was the first Indian man to clinch top podium at Birmingham.
Sudhir won the first medal for India, a gold, in para sports at the CWG 2022. He became the champion in the para powerlifting men’s heavyweight category.
Commonwealth Games 2022 India’s medals
| No | Athlete/Team | Medal | Event | Sport |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sanket Sargar | Silver | Men’s 55kg | Weightlifting |
| 2 | Gururaja Poojary | Bronze | Men’s 61kg | Weightlifting |
| 3 | Mirabai Chanu | Gold | Women’s 49kg | Weightlifting |
| 4 | Bindyarani Devi | Silver | Women’s 55kg | Weightlifting |
| 5 | Jeremy Lalrinnunga | Gold | Men’s 67kg | Weightlifting |
| 6 | Achinta Sheuli | Gold | Men’s 73kg | Weightlifting |
| 7 | Sushila Devi Likmabam | Silver | Women’s 48kg | Judo |
| 8 | Vijay Kumar Yadav | Bronze | Men’s 60kg | Judo |
| 9 | Harjinder Kaur | Bronze | Women’s 71kg | Weightlifting |
| 10 | Indian women’s team | Gold | Women’s fours | Lawn bowls |
| 11 | Vikas Thakur | Silver | Men’s 96kg | Weightlifting |
| 12 | Indian men’s team | Gold | Men’s team | Table Tennis |
| 13 | Indian mixed team | Silver | Mixed team | Badminton |
| 14 | Lovepreet Singh | Bronze | Men’s 109kg | Weightlifting |
| 15 | Saurav Ghosal | Bronze | Men’s singles | Squash |
| 16 | Tulika Maan | Silver | Women’s +78kg | Judo |
| 17 | Gurdeep Singh | Bronze | Men’s +109kg | Weightlifting |
| 18 | Tejaswin Shankar | Bronze | Men’s high jump | Athletics |
| 19 | Murali Sreeshankar | Silver | Men’s long jump | Athletics |
| 20 | Sudhir | Gold | Men’s heavyweight | Para Powerlifting |
| 21 | Anshu Malik | Silver | Women’s 57kg freestyle | Wrestling |
| 22 | Bajrang Punia | Gold | Men’s 65kg freestyle | Wrestling |
| 23 | Sakshi Malik | Gold | Women’s 62kg freestyle | Wrestling |
| 24 | Deepak Punia | Gold | Men’s 86kg freestyle | Wrestling |
| 25 | Divya Kakran | Bronze | Women’s 68kg freestyle | Wrestling |
| 26 | Mohit Grewal | Bronze | Men’s 125kg freestyle | Wrestling |
| 27 | Priyanka Goswami | Silver | Women’s 10000m race walk | Athletics |
| 28 | Avinash Sable | Silver | Men’s 3000m steeplechase | Athletics |
| 29 | Indian men’s team | Silver | Men’s fours | Lawn Bowls |
| 30 | Jaismine Lamboria | Bronze | Women’s 60kg lightweight | Boxing |
| 31 | Pooja Gehlot | Bronze | Women’s 50kg freestyle | Wrestling |
| 32 | Ravi Kumar Dahiya | Gold | Men’s 57kg freestyle | Wrestling |
| 33 | Vinesh Phogat | Gold | Women’s 53kg freestyle | Wrestling |
| 34 | Naveen | Gold | Men’s 74kg freestyle | Wrestling |
| 35 | Pooja Sihag | Bronze | Women’s 76kg freestyle | Wrestling |
| 36 | Mohammad Hussamuddin | Bronze | Men’s 57kg featherweight | Boxing |
| 37 | Deepak Nehra | Bronze | Men’s 97kg freestyle | Wrestling |
| 38 | Rohit Tokas | Bronze | Men’s 67kg welterweight | Boxing |
| 39 | Sonalben Patel | Bronze | Women’s singles Classes 3-5 | Para Table Tennis |
| 40 | Bhavina Patel | Gold | Women’s singles classes 3-5 | Para Table Tennis |
| 41 | Women’s hockey team | Bronze | Women’s hockey | Hockey |
| 42 | Nitu Ghangas | Gold | Women’s 48kg minimumweight | Boxing |
| 43 | Amit Panghal | Gold | Men’s 51kg flyweight | Boxing |
| 44 | Eldhose Paul | Gold | Men’s triple jump | Athletics |
| 45 | Abdulla Aboobacker | Silver | Men’s triple jump | Athletics |
| 46 | Sandeep Kumar | Bronze | Men’s 10000m race walk | Athletics |
| 47 | Annu Rani | Bronze | Women’s javelin throw | Athletics |
| 48 | Nikhat Zareen | Gold | Women’s 50kg light flyweight | Boxing |
| 49 | Sharath Kamal / G Sathiyan | Silver | Men’s doubles | Table Tennis |
| 50 | Dipika Pallikal / Saurav Ghosal | Bronze | Mixed doubles | Squash |
| 51 | Kidambi Srikanth | Bronze | Men’s singles | Badminton |
| 52 | Women’s cricket team | Silver | Women’s T20 | Cricket |
| 53 | Sharath Kamal / Sreeja Akula | Gold | Mixed doubles | Table Tennis |
| 54 | Treesa Jolly / Gayatri Gopichand | Bronze | Women’s doubles | Badminton |
| 55 | Sagar Ahlawat | Silver | Men’s 92+kg super heavyweight | Boxing |
| 56 | PV Sindhu | Gold | Women’s singles | Badminton |
| 57 | Lakshya Sen | Gold | Men’s singles | Badminton |
| 58 | Sathiyan Gnanasekaran | Bronze | Men’s singles | Table Tennis |
| 59 | Satwiksairaj Rankireddy / Chirag Shetty | Gold | Men’s doubles | Badminton |
| 60 | Sharath Kamal | Gold | Men’s singles | Table Tennis |
| 61 | Men’s hockey team | Silver | Men’s hockey | Hockey |
Conclusion
The Olympics and Commonwealth Games are significant global events, and India’s performance in these competitions continues to improve. AFCAT 1 2025 aspirants should stay updated on the achievements of Indian athletes and the international sporting landscape, focusing on the details that might be relevant for their exam.
Studying these events, medal winners, and major milestones will not only prepare you for the sports-related questions but also give you an understanding of India’s growing prominence in global sports.
