India competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States. Leander Paes' bronze in the men's tennis event was the only medal won by the country. It had been 44 years since an Indian last won an individual medal at the Olympics (K. D. Jadhav earned bronze for freestyle bantamweight wrestling at the 1952 Summer Olympics, Helsinki). The medal was also India's first since their men's hockey team won gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Subash Razdan, a prominent Indian American community leader in Atlanta was appointed Attache for India by the Indian Olympic Association. He also served as the acting chef-de-mission for the Indian contingent.
Medalists
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%"
|-
! Medal
! Name
! Sport
! Event
! Date
|-
| || Leander Paes || Tennis || Men's singles ||
|}
Competitors
There were 49 athletes who took part in the medal events across 13 sports.
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!width=120|Sport
!width=55|Men
!width=55|Women
!width="55"|Athletes
!width="55"| Events
|-
|align=left|Archery
|3||0||3||2
|-
|align=left|Athletics
| 2 || 4 ||6|| 3
|-
|align=left|Badminton
| 1 || 1 ||2|| 2
|-
|align=left|Boxing
| 3 || 0 ||3|| 3
|-
|align=left|Equestrian
|1||0||1||1
|-
|align=left|Field hockey
| 16 || 0 ||16|| 1
|-
|align=left|Judo
| 2 || 2 ||4|| 4
|-
|align=left|Shooting
| 2 || 0 ||2|| 3
|-
|align=left|Swimming
| 1 || 1 ||2|| 2
|-
|align=left|Table tennis
|1||1||2||2
|-
|align=left|Tennis
| 2 || 0||2|| 2
|-
|align=left|Weightlifting
| 5 || 0 ||5|| 5
|-
|align=left|Wrestling
| 1 || 0 ||1|| 1
|-
! Total||40||9||49||31
|}
Archery
In India's third appearance in Olympic archery, the nation was represented by three men. Lalremsanga Chhangte was the only one to win a match.
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center"
|-
!rowspan=2|Athlete
!rowspan=2|Event
!colspan="2"|Ranking round
!Round of 64
!Round of 32
!Round of 16
!Quarterfinals
!Semifinals
!colspan="2"|Final /
|- style="font-size:95%"
!Score
!Seed
!Opposition<br />Score
!Opposition<br />Score
!Opposition<br />Score
!Opposition<br />Score
!Opposition<br />Score
!Opposition<br />Score
!Rank
|- align=center
|align=left|Changte Lalremsaga
| rowspan="3" |Men's Individual
|650
|32
|<br/> W 169–156
|<br/> L 158–164
|colspan="5"
|-
|align=left|Limba Ram
|644
|44
|<br/> L 140–165
|colspan="6"rowspan="2"
|-
|align=left|Skalzang Dorje
|634
|55
|<br/> L 156–167
|-
|align=left|Limba Ram<br/>Skalzang Dorje<br/>Changte Lalremsaga
|Men's Team
|1928
|14
|colspan=2
|<br/> L 235–251
|colspan="4"
|}
Athletics
;Track And Road Events
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
|-
!rowspan="2"|Athlete
!rowspan="2"|Event
!colspan="2"|Heat
!colspan=2|Semifinal
!colspan="2"|Final
|-style="font-size:95%"
!Result
!Rank
!Result
!Rank
!Result
!Rank
|-align=center
|align=left|Bahadur Prasad
|align=left|Men's 1500 Meter
|3:46.16
|8
|colspan=4
|-align=center
|align=left|Beenamol Mathew<br /> Rosakutty Kunnath Chacko<br /> Jyotirmoyee Sikdar<br /> Shiny Wilson
|align=left|Women's relay
| colspan="2" |
| colspan="2"
| colspan=2
|}
;Field Events
{|class=wikitable style="font-size:90%"
|-
!rowspan="2"|Athlete
!rowspan="2"|Event
! colspan="2"|Qualification
! colspan="2"|Final
|- style="font-size:95%"
!Distance
!Rank
!Distance
!Rank
|-align=center
|align=left|Shakti Singh
|align=left|Men's Discus Throw
|56.58m
|30
| colspan=2
|}
Badminton
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Athlete
! rowspan="2"|Event
! Round of 64
! Round of 32
! Round of 16
! Quarter-final
! Semi-final
! colspan="2"|Final /
|- style="font-size:95%"
|-
! Opposition<br />Score
! Opposition<br />Score
! Opposition<br />Score
! Opposition<br />Score
! Opposition<br />Score
! Opposition<br />Score
! Rank
|- align="center"
|align="left"|Deepankar Bhattacharya
|align="left"|Men's Singles
|
|<br /> L (5–15, 4–15)
| rowspan="2" colspan="5"
|- align="center"
|align="left"|P.V.V. Lakshmi
|align="left"|Women's Singles
| <br /> W (11–6, 11–6)
|<br /> L (5–11, 6–11)
|}
Boxing
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
|-
!rowspan="2"|Athlete
!rowspan="2"|Event
!Round of 32
!Round of 16
!Quarterfinals
!Semifinals
!colspan=2|Final
|-style="font-size:95%"
!Opposition<br />Result
!Opposition<br />Result
!Opposition<br />Result
!Opposition<br />Result
!Opposition<br />Result
!Rank
|-align=center
|align=left|Debendra Thapa
|align=left|Men's Light Flyweight (48 kg)
|<br/>L RCS-1
|rowspan="3" colspan="5"
|-align=center
|align=left|Gurcharn Singh
|align=left|Men's Light Heavyweight (81 kg)
|<br/>L 7–15
|-align=center
|align=left|Lakha Singh
|align=left|Men's Heavyweight (91 kg)
|<br/>L 2–14
|}
Equestrian
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Athlete
!Event
!Horse
!Dressage
!Cross Country
!Jumping
!Total
!Rank
|-
|Indrajit Lamba
|Individual Eventing
|Karishma
|79.40
|EL
|
|EL
|
|}
Field Hockey
Team Roster:
:*Subbaiah Anjaparavanda
:*Harpreet Singh
:*Mohammed Riaz
:*Sanjeev Kumar
:*Baljeet Singh
:*Sabu Varkey
:*Mukesh Kumar
:*Rahul Singh
:*Dhanraj Pillay
:*Pargat Singh (captain)
:*Baljit Singh Dhillon
:*Alloysuis Edwards
:*Anil Alexander
:*Gavin Ferreira
:*Ramandeep Singh
:*Dilip Tirkey
;Preliminary round
;Group A
<onlyinclude>
</onlyinclude>
;Classification matches
;Fifth to eighth place classification
;Crossover
;Seventh and eighth place
8th Place Finish
Judo
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:center"
|-
! rowspan="3" |Athlete
! rowspan="3" |Event
! rowspan="2" |Round of 64
! rowspan="2" |Round of 32
! rowspan="2" |Round of 16
! rowspan="2" |Quarter Finals
! rowspan="2" |Semi Finals
! colspan="2" |Repachage
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |Final/
|-
!Round 1
!Round 2
|- style="font-size:95%"
!Opposition <br /> Result
!Opposition <br /> Result
!Opposition <br /> Result
!Opposition <br /> Result
!Opposition <br /> Result
!Opposition <br /> Result
!Opposition <br /> Result
!Opposition <br /> Result
|-align=center
|align=left|Narender Singh
|align=left|Men's 60 kg
| <br /> Won
| <br /> Loss
| colspan="7"
|-
|align=left|Najib Aga
|align=left|Men's 65 kg
|
| <br /> Loss
| colspan="3"
| <br /> Loss
| colspan="3"
|-
|align=left|Sunith Thakur
|align=left|Women's 52 kg
|
|
| <br /> Loss
| colspan="6"
|-
|align=left|Arti Kohli
|align=left|Women's 72 kg
|
| <br /> Loss
| colspan="7"
|}
Shooting
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
!rowspan="2"|Athlete
!rowspan="2"|Event
!colspan=2|Qualification
!colspan=2|Final
|-style="font-size:95%"
!Points
!Rank
!Points
!Rank
|-align=center
|align=left rowspan="2" |Jaspal Rana
|align=left|Men's 10 m Air Pistol
|574
|29
|rowspan="3" colspan=2
|-align=center
|align=left|Men's 50 m Air Pistol
|534
|45
|-align=center
|align=left|Mansher Singh
|align=left|Men's Trap
|118
|31
|}
Swimming
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
|-
! rowspan="2" |Athlete
! rowspan="2" |Event
! colspan="2" |Heats
! colspan="2" |Swim-Off
! colspan="2" |Final
|-
!Time
!Rank
!Time
!Rank
!Time
!Rank
|- align="center"
|align=left|Sebastian Xavier
|align=left|Men's 50m Freestyle
|23.80
|44
|rowspan="2" colspan="4"
|- align="center"
|align=left|Sangeeta Puri
|align=left|Women's 50m Freestyle
|28.02
|48
|}
Table Tennis
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
|-
!rowspan=2|Athlete
!rowspan=2|Event
!colspan=4|Group stage
!Round of 16
!Quarterfinal
!Semifinal
!colspan=2|Final /
|-
!Opposition<br />Score
!Opposition<br />Score
!Opposition<br />Score
!Rank
!Opposition<br />Score
!Opposition<br />Score
!Opposition<br />Score
!Opposition<br />Score
!Rank
|- align="center"
|align=left|Chetan Baboor
|align=left|Men's Singles
|<br /> L 1–2
|<br /> L 0–2
|<br /> L 1–2
|4
| rowspan="2" colspan="5"
|- align="center"
|align=left|Ambika Radhika
|align=left|Women's Singles
|<br /> L 0–2
|<br /> L 0–2
|<br /> L 0–2
|4
|}
Tennis
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;"
|-
!rowspan=2|Athlete
!rowspan=2|Event
!Round 64
!Round 32
!Round 16
!Quarterfinals
!Semifinals
!colspan=2|Final /
|- style="font-size:95%"
!Opposition<br />Result
!Opposition<br />Result
!Opposition<br />Result
!Opposition<br />Result
!Opposition<br />Result
!Opposition<br />Result
!Rank
|-align=center
|align=left|Leander Paes
|align=left|Men's Singles
|<br />W 6–7, 7–6,1–0
|<br />W 6–2, 6–3
|<br />W 7–5, 7–6
|<br />W 6–1, 7–5
|<br />L 6–7, 3–6
|<br />W 3–6, 6–2, 6–4
|
|-align=center
|align=left|Mahesh Bhupathi<br />Leander Paes
|align=left|Men's Doubles
|
|<br />W 4–6, 6–4, 6–4
|<br />L 6–4, 2–6, 2–6
| colspan="4"
|}
Weightlifting
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Event
!Athlete
!Snatch
!Clean &
Jerk
!Total
!Rank
|-
|Badathala Adisekhar
|Men's 54 kg
|105.0
|125.0
|230.0
|18
|-
|Raghavan Chanderasekaran
|Men's 59 kg
|112.5
|140.0
|252.5
|11
|-
|Sandeep Kumar
|Men's 64 kg
|110.0
|142.5
|252.5
|33
|-
|Samsudeen Kabeer
|Men's 70 kg
|125.0
|150.0
|275.0
|23
|-
|Satheesha Rai
|Men's 76 kg
|140.0
|177.5
|317.4
|15
|}
Wrestling
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! rowspan="2" |Athlete
! rowspan="2" |Event
!Round 1
!Round 2
!Round 3
!Round 4
!Round 5
!Round 6
!Final
!
|-
!Round Type
Opposition
Result
!Round Type
Opposition
Result
!Round Type
Opposition
Result
!Round Type
Opposition
Result
!Round Type
Opposition
Result
!Round Type
Opposition
Result
!Round Type
Opposition
Result
!Rank
|-
|Pappu Yadav
|Men's Greco-Roman 52kg
|1/16 Finals
Loss 0-4ST
|Repachage
Loss 0-4ST
| colspan="6" |did not advance
|}