The Asian Games is one of the largest multisport competitions in the world, only second after the Olympics. The first edition in 1951 was hosted by India in New Delhi, marking a new dawn of sports and recreation for the Asian continent following the end of the Second World War.
The combined efforts of then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the Indian representative of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Guru Dutt Sondhi, the first secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Anthony de Mello, and Patiala's Maharaja Yadavindra Singh led to the formation of these four-yearly games.
The first Asiad was a relatively modest affair; a week-long event with 489 athletes representing 11 countries across 6 sports. India ranked second in these games with 51 medals, closely behind Japan which gained 60 medals.
The chart below demonstrates India's medal count over the years:
One of the reasons for a substantial drop in India's medal count between 1954 and 1978 could be attributed to the number of new events that were introduced in the games in each edition.
In the 1954 Asiad, 19 new events were introduced, and the number of countries participating also grew from 11 to 19. Thus, India saw a 67% decrease in its medal count. A similar trend followed till 1978 where an increase or decrease in the number of events inversely affected India's medal count.
In 1962, a slight reduction in the number of events led to a growth in India's medals tally. This was also because the number of National Olympic Committees (NOCs) or countries participating had reduced from 20 to 16, which in turn benefitted India.
This inversely proportional trend between the number of events and medals has ceased to exist in the past few Asiads. This might be due to the increase in the size of our contingent every year. Compared to the 2002 Asiad and the ones before that, India's contingent has grown in 2010, 2014, 2018, and even now, in 2023, we are fielding a record number of participants. And its positive effects reflect clearly on our medal table as well - - we have consistently grown in our medal count despite the growth in the number of events and countries participating.
The significant dip in our medals in 1990 was a major blow for India, with poor performances in athletics, cycling, and issues related to management, among other misfortunes, as this editorial published the same year points out. It also noteworthy that from 1990 onwards, the number of countries participating crossed the 35 mark, making the games more and more competitive.
India's Star Categories
Athletics has clearly been our strongest forte -- since 1951, we have won 254 medals in the category, including 79 gold. We have also managed to remain consistent at wrestling since 1962. Wrestlers such as Palwinder Singh Cheema in 2002 and 2006, and more recently, Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat are some prominent medal-winners in the sport. Infamous wrestler Sushil Kumar, who was arrested in May 2021 over charges of murder, has also contributed to the medals in wrestling. Kumar has since remained in custody in Delhi's Tihar jail.
While hockey is also another star sport, a surprising defeat in the men's category against Malaysia during the last Asiad cost us a medal. In the same year, Captain Manpreet Singh admitted that the team members were "slightly overconfident."
Barring that, since 2002, the men's team has always made it to the podium, except in the 15th Asiad in 2006. Even then, the women's team won us a bronze.
The graphic below demonstrates India's star categories and the medals won in each of them:
Within athletics, Japan and China are India's only major competitors. The graphic below shows how India roughly compares to the top two nations in athletics in the past 10 Asian Games:
One cannot talk about India's star categories without mentioning Kabaddi. We have remained virtually undefeated in the Men's category since its introduction in the games in 1990, consistently bagging the gold medal. The exception was in the last Asiad where we lost the gold medal to Iran and won the bronze.
Women At the Asian Games
The representation of women on our medal table has also increased. While women contributed to just 3.9% of the medals won in the first Asiad, the figure has increased to 47.3% in 2014 with the increase in representation. The figure dipped to 37.1% in the 2018 Asiad and remains at similar levels compared to other recent editions.
How Indian Athletes Have Fared Individually
Indian athletes' individual performances in their respective sporting categories has been lacklustre. Records made by long retired athletes such as PT Usha, Milkha Singh, and Jaspal Rana have still endured.
The graph below demonstrates the medals won by other popular athletes in the games:
For the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, India is fielding its largest-ever contingent of 655 athletes to compete in 40 disciplines, out of which 68 are from athletics. India's medal hopes are set on Neeraj Chopra for javelin throw, Mirabai Chanu for weightlifting, the men's and women's cricket teams, Lovlina Borgohain for boxing, PV Sindhu for badminton, and the hockey and kabaddi teams, among other sports.
Former athlete and newly appointed President of the IOA PT Usha said that India could record its highest-ever medal tally this year owing to the participation of these prominent athletes and their record in the recent past in other championships.