India at the Winter Olympics: History, Athletes, Medals & 2026 Results

Every four years someone asks me the same two questions: Does India even go to the Winter Olympics? and Have we won anything?

Answers, without spin: yes, India competes — first appearance Innsbruck 1964, and 12 editions through Milano Cortina 2026. And no, there is still no Winter Olympic medal of any colour.

At 2026 India sent two athletes: alpine skier Arif Mohammed Khan and cross-country skier Stanzin Lundup. That's a bigger squad than Beijing 2022's one-man mission, still tiny next to Summer teams.

Hosting is a different conversation entirely — that's India's Summer 2036 bid, not a Winter host plan.

Yes. Under the Indian Olympic Association (code IND), India has been a Winter Olympic nation for decades. The teams are usually small — alpine skiing, cross-country, and historically luge — because the pathway and infrastructure are thin compared with Summer sports.

If you want the organisation that runs the whole Olympic system, that's the IOC.

All-time Winter Olympic medals for India:

So “who won India's first Winter Olympic medal?” still has no name attached. Summer Games medals are a different list.

• 1964 — Jeremy Bujakowski becomes India's first Winter Olympian.
• 1988 — Shailaja Kumar is the first Indian woman at the Winter Games; Kishore Ratna Rai's men's slalom result becomes a long-standing benchmark.
• 1998–2018 — Shiva Keshavan (luge) becomes the face of Indian winter sport across six editions.
• 2006 — Biggest modern squad: four athletes, including Neha Ahuja.
• 2022–2026 — Arif Khan carries the alpine flag; 2026 adds Stanzin Lundup in cross-country.

And no — there was no Winter Olympics in 2024. That search usually means Beijing 2022 or Milano Cortina 2026.

One athlete: Arif Mohammed Khan. He qualified for both giant slalom and slalom — a first for India in that sense — finished 45th in GS (still India's best GS mark) and DNF'd the slalom. Opening flagbearer. Zero medals. Hard trip, honest result.

Full Games context lives on our 2026 Winter Olympics page. For India specifically:

• Arif Khan — 39th in men's slalom, India's best-ever men's Olympic slalom finish (old mark: 49th in 1988)
• Stanzin Lundup — 104th in the men's 10km freestyle cross-country
• Medals: still none

That's progress you can measure in places, not podium photos.

• Women's slalom: Shailaja Kumar — 28th (1988)
• Men's GS: Arif Khan — 45th (2022)
• Men's slalom: Arif Khan — 39th (2026)

Different event, different medal lists. Useful experience for athletes; not a substitute for Olympic results.

Next Winter Games: French Alps 2030. India's roster will depend on the next qualification cycle. Long-track speed skating there is planned for Thialf in the Netherlands — interesting venue trivia, not India's current pipeline.

How sports even get onto programmes like that is covered in Olympic sport selection.