India officially have 35 medals in the Olympics. But two of them – their first two medals – are dubious, and carry a lot of doubt around them. 124 years ago, even before the Indian golden era in field hockey, India’s first two Olympic medals were won by athlete Norman Pritchard, who lived in Kolkata (then known as Calcutta). But in a period when the British ruled in India, and having his own origins from Britain, several doubts remain over whether Norman Pritchard’s Olympic medals actually belong to India.
Pritchard won two silver medals in the 1900 Olympic Games, which was also hosted by Paris. A supreme athlete, Pritchard won the Bengal 100 Yards sprint seven years in succession, and even held the record of the fastest 100m sprint at 10.0 seconds (for context, Usain Bolt’s current world record is 9.58s).
Ahead of the 1900 Olympics, Pritchard had joined the London Athletic Club, whilst already being a part of the Bengal Presidency Athletic Club. Representing both clubs, Pritchard participated in the AAA (Amateur Athletics Association of England) Championship, an event that was a trial for the 1900 Paris Olympics. Finishing second in the trial, Pritchard qualified for the Olympics. But having represented two clubs from two countries, the debate arose about which country he actually represented.
Pritchard won silver in both the 200m and the 200m hurdles sprints in Paris 1900. However, as per the official Olympic programme, he had represented ‘England’ in the 100m race and ‘British India’ in the 100m hurdles.
Historian Ian Buchanan had written that Pritchard participated independently. The New York Times even referred to him as an ‘Englishman’. This threw further doubt on his nationality.
After his Olympics success, Pritchard serves as the secretary of the Indian Football Association from 1900-02. However, by 1906, he had permanently moved abroad, never to return to India. He eventually moved to the United States, acting in several movies under the name ‘Norman Trevor’.
Pritchard’s medals are officially credited to India, and Pritchard was the first athlete born in Asia to win an Olympic medal. However, his origins and several reports from the 1900 Paris Olympic Games creates the mystery of whether they were India’s medals indeed.
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