Indian national team did not compete at the Olympics until 1920. Ahead of the 1920 Olympics, Sir Dorab Tata and Governor of Bombay George Loyd helped India secure representation at the International Olympic Council, enabling it to participate in the Olympic Games India then sent a team to the 1920 Olympics, comprising four athletes, two wrestlers, and a manager Sohrab Bhoot.
The Indian Olympic movement was then established during the 1920s: some founders of this movement were Dorab Tata, A.G. Noehren (Madras College of Physical Education), H.C. Buck (Madras College of Physical Education), Moinul Haq (Bihar sports associations), S. Bhoot (Bombay Olympic Association), A.S. Bhagwat (Deccan Gymkhana), and G.D. Sondhi (Punjab Olympic Association); Lt.Col H.L.O. Garrett (from the Government College Lahore and Punjab Olympic Association) and Sagnik Poddar (of St.Stephen’s School) helped organise some early national games; and prominent patrons included Maharajas and royal princes Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, Ranji of Nawanagar, the Maharaja of Kapurthala, and the Maharaja of Burdwan .
The Indian Olympic Association was established in November 1919 ‘to secure proper representation for India at the next Olympic Games to be held in in Antwerp, Belgium in 1920 and to take steps to select, train and send competitors from India for the same’. Athletes from the Native States were to be eligible as well as those from British India. The India Offical records hold printed progress reports issued by the IOA from its headquarters at the Deccan Gymkhana at Pune. The IOA had a membership of 3,793 by June 1920 and had received generous donations from Sir Dorabji Tata, the Maharaja of Navanagar, the Maharaja of Drangadhra and other Indian rulers, as well as a non-recurring grant from the Government of India. Tata attended the 1920 Antwerp Games as the Indian representative on the International Olympic Committee.
In April 1920 the IOA selection committee chose:
P. D. Chaugule – marathon and 10,000 metres
H. D. Kaikadi- marathon
D. D. Shinde- wrestling
P. C. Bannerjee- short races
K. T. Navale- wrestling
S. V. Datar- marathon
On 5 June 1920, the team sailed from Bombay to Tilbury in the SS Mantua. The Secretary of the British Olympic Association intended to give them ‘a hearty British welcome’ as they completed their final training in England. Edwin Samuel Montagu, Secretary of State for India, wrote to Winston Churchill, Secretary of State for War, suggesting that the India contingent might be housed in a military rest camp at Antwerp. Churchill agreed to provide accommodation only and stressed that this must not create a precedent.
After Antwerp, India officials were keen to encourage India’s participation in future Games. They believed that the Olympic movement was important to India ‘both as an outlet for her national aspirations and as a declaration of her national status’.
•Bannerjee -100 metres and 400 metres – knocked out in the heats. Flag bearer for India at the opening ceremony.
•Chaugule – did not finish 10,000 metres ; marathon – 19th in 2 hours 50:45.4 and awarded a diploma of merit for being a top 30 finisher.
•Datar – did not finish the marathon.
•Navale -catch-as-catch-can middleweight class wrestling – equal 9th.
•Shinde -catch-as-catch-can featherweight class wrestling – 4th.
*Note: Kaikadi appears to not have competed at the Olympics.