Haryana Leads India’s Asian Games 2026 Medal-Winning States

Haryana produced 45 of the 207 Indian athletes who returned from the 2026 Asian Games with a medal, accounting for 21.7% of the country’s medal-winning contingent. The figure places Haryana well clear of every other state and highlights the concentration of India’s sporting success in a relatively small number of talent pipelines.

Maharashtra ranked second with 22 medallists, less than half Haryana’s total, while Punjab followed closely with 21. Together, Haryana, Maharashtra and Punjab supplied 88 medallists, or 42.5% of India’s total. When Tamil Nadu’s 14 and Uttar Pradesh’s 13 are added, the five leading states account for 115 athletes, representing 55.6% of the Indian contingent that won medals.

The data maps each medallist to a home state and shows that athletes from 24 states and union territories won medals for India in Aichi-Nagoya. Twelve of the country’s 36 states and union territories did not produce a medallist.

Haryana’s gold-medal contribution stands out

The disparity becomes even more pronounced when gold medals are considered. A total of 114 Indian athletes, including all members of team-event squads, returned with gold medals. Haryana contributed 36 of them, nearly 32% of the overall gold-medal-winning group.

Four in every five Haryana medallists won gold. Punjab had 13 gold-medal winners among its 21 medallists, while Maharashtra had 12 gold-medal winners from 22 athletes. Team sports are a significant part of those figures, as hockey and kabaddi squads included numerous athletes from Haryana and Punjab, with every player in a gold-winning team counted as a medallist.

Cricket also contributed to the totals, with both the men’s and women’s teams winning gold. Haryana’s tally was further strengthened by individual sports, including wrestling and boxing, with Aman Sehrawat, Parveen Hooda and Ankush Pangal among the athletes named in the state’s medal haul.

The five southern states — Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh — combined for 42 medallists, three fewer than Haryana alone. Tamil Nadu led that group with 14 medallists, but only three won gold while nine won bronze. Kerala’s eight medallists included six silver winners and one gold medal winner, Sanju Samson, who was part of the cricket squad.

Telangana and Karnataka each produced four gold-medal winners. The pattern across the southern states reflects strong representation in sports including badminton, squash and athletics field events, where Indian athletes reached the podium frequently but won fewer finals.

Smaller states show high conversion rates

Several smaller contributors recorded perfect gold-medal conversion rates. Jharkhand had four medallists and all four won gold, while Odisha and West Bengal each had three medallists who all won gold. Mizoram’s two medallists also returned with gold medals.

Hockey explains much of that success for Jharkhand, Odisha and Mizoram, with Salima Tete, Amit Rohidas and Lalremsiami among the players associated with those state contributions. In the Northeast, Manipur was the strongest contributor with eight medallists. Mirabai Chanu and Roshibina Devi won silver, while the state also had representation in hockey gold.

Manipur, Assam and Mizoram together accounted for 12 medallists, or 5.8% of India’s total. Elsewhere, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh each produced nine medallists, while Uttar Pradesh’s 13 included five gold-medal winners, indicating a group of states building behind the three largest contributors.

The state totals should be read with an important qualification: team events increase the number of athletes counted, as an entire hockey squad contributes multiple medallists while an individual shooting gold contributes one. Even with that caveat, the figures show that India’s medals remain concentrated in a handful of states, with the next Asian Games cycle offering a measure of whether the gap narrows.