Panjab University’s 100 Years in Olympics: From 1924 to 2024 Paris Olympics

By Saurabh Duggal

India’s Panjab University, one of the country’s oldest universities, celebrates a remarkable 100 years of involvement in the Olympics, spanning from the 1924 Paris Olympics to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Over the past century, Panjab University’s students and alumni have contributed to winning over 60 Olympic medals, predominantly in hockey, except for Neeraj Chopra’s gold in the javelin throw at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In the ongoing 2024 Paris Olympics, three students from DAV College, Chandigarh—Manu Bhaker, Sarbjot Singh, and Vijayveer Sidhu—are part of the Indian shooting contingent. DAV College is an affiliated college of Panjab University.

Panjab University’s Olympic journey began at the 1924 Paris Olympics, with Dalip Singh from Law College, Lahore, competing in the long jump event. Additionally, Mohammad Salim, a former student of Government College, Lahore, participated in the 1924 Paris Games in lawn tennis.

Since then, the university has had a long history of producing world-class athletes for India, both pre- and post-Independence.

Panjab University has been represented in all of India’s Olympic hockey medals. The first Olympic gold credited to the university came during the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics when Feroze Khan and Kehar Singh Gill, both former students, were part of India’s first men’s hockey gold medal-winning team. The most decorated Olympians from the university are Udham Singh (three gold and one silver) and Balbir Singh Senior (three gold).

Ajit Pal Singh, a student of Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar, led India to a historic gold in the 1975 hockey World Cup and was part of the Indian men’s hockey team that won bronze medals in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics.

Kamaljit Sandhu, then a student at Panjab University, became the country’s first woman to win gold across all disciplines at the 1970 Asian Games, securing victory in the 400m race. She later became the first female student of Panjab University to compete in the Olympics.

Founded in Lahore in 1882 and relocated to Chandigarh after Partition, Panjab University has a long tradition of excellence in sports since its inception.