India competed in the
1920 Summer Olympics held in
Antwerp, Belgium. It was the country's second participation in the
Summer Olympics after a single athlete (
Norman Pritchard)
competed in the
1900 Summer Olympics. During a sports meet at the Deccan Gymkhana in
Pune in 1919, the Gymkhana president
Dorabji Tata expressed a desire for India to take part in the
1920 Summer Olympics. He requested Lloyd George, the
Governor of Bombay, who presided the meet, to secure representation for India at the Olympics through the
British Olympic Committee. As a result, in February 1920, the
International Olympic Committee granted India affiliation to participate in the Olympic Games. Thereafter, a committee consisting of Dorab Tata,
Hassan Ali Fyzee,
Sohrab bhoot, and other Deccan Gymkhana members met in March 1920 to discuss India's Olympic participation, and decided to hold a trial meet in Pune in April 1920. Bhoot was the manager and Fyzee was the medical officer and adviser for the team. Dorabji Tata donated , while the
Indian government gave , with private donations amounting to . The team left
Bombay on 5 June aboard the SS Mantua, and trained in
Stamford Bridge in
London for six weeks under English coach H. Parry before proceeding to Antwerp. After the Games, Bhoot submitted a report mentioning that India could have future Olympic success in hockey and wrestling and made recommendations concerning technical, organisational, and training issues for future Olympic teams. The committee that sent the team met again, and on the advice of Dorabji Tata, and formed the provisional
Indian Olympic Committee with Tata as its president and A. G. Noehren as secretary. This provisional committee sent an Indian team to the
1924 Summer Olympics, and became the Indian Olympic Association in 1927. == Competitors ==