Geeta Zutshi is a former Indian track and field athlete. She established several national and Asian running records in the 800 metres and 1500 metres events.
Pullela Gopichand is an Indian former badminton player. Currently, he is the Chief National Coach for the India national badminton team. He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001, becoming the second Indian to achieve this feat after Prakash Padukone. He runs the Gopichand Badminton Academy. He received the Arjuna Award in 1999, the Khel Ratna Award in 2001, the Dronacharya Award in 2009 and the Padma Bhushan – India's third highest civilian award – in 2014. He is the only Indian coach to win the "Honorable Mention" by the International Olympic Committee at the 2019 Coaches Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Anju Bobby George is a retired Indian athlete. Anju Bobby George made history when she won the bronze medal in long jump at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics in Paris. With this achievement, she became the first Indian athlete ever to win a medal in a World Championships in Athletics jumping 6.70 metres (22.0 ft). She went on to win the gold medal at the IAAF World Athletics Final in 2005, a performance she considers her best. Anju was upgraded to the gold status from silver in the 2005 World Athletics Final in Monte Carlo following the disqualification of Tatyana Kotova of Russia by the International Association of Athletics Federations, following the recent re-testing of the latter's sample collected at the 2005 World Championship in Helsinki. She was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2002, Khel Ratna in 2003 and Padma Shri in 2004. She had got 5th position with personal best of 6.83 metres (22.4 ft) at the 2004 Athens Olympics. In March 2021, Anju won the BBC lifetime achievement award for best athlete in India. She is also the current vice-president of the Athletics Federation of India.
Kalayathumkuzhi Mathews Beenamol, popularly known as K. M. Beenamol, from Kombidinjal, Idukki district, Kerala is an international athlete from India.
Shiny Kurisingal Wilson is a retired Indian athlete. She has been a National Champion in 800 metres for 14 years. Shiny Abraham Wilson represented India more than 75 times in international competition. She holds the added distinction of representing Asia in four World Cups. She is also perhaps the only athlete to have taken part in six Asian Track & Field Meets in a row beginning 1985 in Jakarta. During this period she won seven gold, five silver and two bronze medals in the Asian competitions. She collected a total of 18 gold and two silver medals from the seven South Asian Federation (SAF) Meets she has competed.
Honorary Captain Sriram Singh Shekhawat is a former Indian middle-distance runner.
Kartar Singh is an Indian wrestler who won gold medals at the Asian Games in 1978 and 1986. He stood 7th at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 100 kg Wrestling.
Limba Ram is an Indian archer who represented India in international competitions, including three Olympics. He equalled an archery world record in 1992 at the Asian Archery Championships in Beijing. He was awarded the Padma Shri Award in 2012.
Devendra Jhajharia is an Indian Paralympic javelin thrower competing in F46 events. He is the first Indian Paralympics player to win two gold medals at the Paralympics. He won his first gold in the javelin throw at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, becoming the second gold medalist at the Paralympics for his country. At the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won a second gold medal in the same event, bettering his previous record. Devendra is currently being supported by the Olympic Gold Quest. He becomes India's most decorated Paralympic player by winning his third medal, a silver at the 2020 Summer Paralympics at Tokyo. In 2024, he was elected president of the Paralympic Committee of India.
Harbinder Singh is a former field hockey player from India. He started his international career in 1961 at the age of 18 years [youngest member of the team] with a tour to New Zealand and Australia with Indian hockey team. During the span of 12 years from 1961 to 1972 had represented the country in three Olympics – Tokyo 1964 — gold medal [scored highest field goals – 5 out of 9 goals], Mexico 1968 — bronze medal [scored highest field goals – 6 out of 11, including hat-trick against Mexico] and was also selected as a centre forward in the "World XI", in Munich 1972 — bronze medal.
Charles Borromeo is a former Indian track and field athlete. He was awarded Arjuna Award in 1982 for winning gold at the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi at a record time of 1:46:81 seconds in India. He represented India in the 1984 Summer Olympics at Los Angeles. His time in the limelight may be short, yet his efforts won him the prestigious Padma Shri civilian award in India in 1984. After retirement, he continued to work in developing sports at the national level in India. He served as the National Sports Director of Special Olympics Bharat, a programme run by the Special Olympics International in India.
Bhuvneshwari Kumari is a former women's squash champion from India. She is a recipient of prestigious awards like Padma Shri and Arjuna Award. She is also a record holder of Guinness Book of World Records for being India's national champion 16 consecutive times. She belongs to the former royal family of Alwar.
Gurbachan Singh Randhawa is a former Indian athlete who won a gold medal at the 1962 Asian Games in decathlon. He participated in the 1960 and 1964 Olympics in 110 hurdles, high jump and decathlon. He finished fifth in the 110 hurdles at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics with a timing of 14.07 seconds. He was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 1961 thus becoming the first athlete from the country to get the award and with the Padma Shri in 2005. His biography 'Uddna Baaz' is written by Navdeep Singh Gill.
Bahadur Singh Chauhan, born on 8 February 1946 in a Sikh Rajput family is a former Indian shot putter. Between 1973 and 1985 he won three gold, two silver and three bronze medals at the Asian Games and Championships. He placed 15th at the 1980 Summer Olympics, and was honoured with Arjuna award and Padma Shri. He is a recipient of Dronacharya Award, by the government of India. He worked as the head coach of India's athletics team before retiring in 2020
Chandgi Ram Kaliraman, often referred to as Master Chandgi Ram, was a freestyle wrestler from India. He won gold medal in the 1970 Asian Games and represented India in the 1972 Summer Olympics. Along with amateur wrestling, he was very active in the traditional Indian wrestling, where he had won all major titles, including Hind Kesari, Bharat Kesari, Bharat Bhim, Rustom-e-Hind and Maha Bharat Kesari.
Sudha Singh is an Indian Olympic athlete in the 3000 metres steeplechase event. A national record holder in the event, she has represented India at international events since 2005. Singh is an Asian Champion in the discipline and has won two gold and four silver medals at varying editions of the Asian Games and the continental championships.
Eliza Nelson, née Eliza Mendonca, is an Indian field hockey player and a former captain of the women's national field hockey team of India. She received the Arjuna Award in 1981 and the Government of India awarded her the fourth highest Indian civilian honour of Padma Shri in 1983.
Mariyappan Thangavelu is an Indian Paralympic high jumper. He is a triple Paralympics medalist having won the gold medal at 2016 Rio, the silver medal at 2020 Tokyo and the bronze medal at 2024 Paris. He has also been a double medalist at the World Championships with one gold and one bronze. Additionally, he is an Asian Para Games silver medalist.
