Ten Countries with one Olympic Gold in Summer Olympics

Summer Olympics is one of the major events that happen once every 4 years. Winning an Individual Gold Medal at these games says a lot about the athlete and the country. For some countries, this gold medal proved to be quite elusive for many years. Here is a list of 10 countries and their corresponding 10 athletes who won the first Individual Gold Medal for their respective countries.

1)Singapore(Joseph Schooling)

They have been sending teams to participate since London 1948 and to their credit, they only had one silver and one bronze Individual medals until Rio 2016.

This all changed when Joseph Schooling took to the swimming arena in 100 m butterfly final. The field was set for Michael Phelps to reign supreme again and prove his dominance in the butterfly event. Apart from Phelps, there was the Hungarian Cseh and South African Chad Le Clos gunning for the gold, but Joseph had other ideas. Joseph won the race in a new Olympic Record time with the three main contenders tied for second place.

History had been made Singapore had their first Individual Gold Medalist in the name of Joseph Schooling. He had beaten his childhood hero Michael Phelps.

2)Jordan(Ahmed AbuGhaush)

Jordan has been participating in the Summer Olympics since 1980 Moscow. Until Rio 2016 they did not have any medals to show for their effort. This all changed in Rio when Ahmed AbuGhaush won Gold in Taekwondo Men's 68 KG Category. This was Jordan's first-ever medal in any Olympic sport. Ahmed defeated 2012 bronze medalist Aleksey Denisenko from Russia to secure gold.

3)Kosovo(Majlinda Kelmendi)

For some countries, success comes early as it did for Kosovo when they debuted in 2016 Rio Games. Kosovo sent a team of 8 athletes to Rio Games and got a Gold medal in their first outing at the Games. Majilnda Kelmendi had qualified for London Games as well but at that time Kosovo was not recognized by IOC. But she got her chance in 2016 games where she brought Gold in Judo 52Kg Category.

4)Vietnam(Hoang Xuan)

Vietnam has been sending teams at the Summer Olympics since 1980 Moscow only boycotting 1984 Los Angeles in between. With a population of around 97 million, it was one of the most populated countries not to have won an Individual Gold Medal. This all changed at Rio 2016 Games when Hoang Xuan shot for Gold in Men's 10 m air pistol event to bring Vietnam its first-ever Olympic Gold. To add to his stellar performance he got a silver in Men's 50 m air pistol as well.

5) Ivory Coast(Cheick Sallah Cisse)

Cote D Ivoire has been sending a contingent since 1964 Tokyo only boycotting 1980 Moscow Games.This African country had won a single silver medal until Rio 2016.Their medal tally tripled to 3 as they got two more medals in Rio 2016 out of which one was a Gold Medal.This medal was grabbed by Cheick Sallah Cisse who defeated the bronze medalist from London 2012 Lutalo Mohammad in Mens' 80 Kg Taekwondo category.

6)Tajikstan(Dilshod Nazarov)

Tajikistan had won one silver and two bronze medals until Rio 2016.They had been participating in Summer Olympics since 1996 Atlanta.The event was Men's Hammer throw and an athlete named Dilshod Nazarov took center stage and brought glory for his country.He threw 78.68 m to take the gold and break his country's Gold medal drought.

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7)Puerto Rico(Monica Puig)

Probably the longest of gold medal droughts for a country which has been participating since 1948 London.They had two silver and six bronze medals to show for their effort until Rio 2016.Their long dreaded Gold medal drought was over in Rio when unseeded Monica Puig won against Angelique Kerber of Germany in the finals.

8)Grenada(Kirani James)

This Carribean country had been participating since Los Angeles 1984.Until London 2012 they did not have any medals to show for their efforts.Up stepped a world champion Kirani James in the 400m event where he had set records for 14 year and 15 year old timings.Kirani James was a favorite for the race and he did not disappoint.He won the gold and then later in 2016 Rio Games he won a silver in the same event.

9)Panama(Irving Saladino)

Panama has been sending a contingent since 1928 Amsterdam.They did not have a Gold Medal to their credit until Beijing 2008.Irving Saladino leaped 8.34m at the men's long jump event to secure a first ever Gold for the country.He was the flag bearer for Panama 2012 London Olympic contingent.

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10)India(Abhinav Bindra)

Up until Beijing 2008 India was the most populous country in the world not to ever win an Individual Gold Medal at Summer Olympics.Though India had won multiple Golds in field hockey but nothing of that sort in Individual events.India had won a silver through Rajyavardhan Singh Rathor in double trap at 2004 Athens. Abhinav Bindra brought India its first ever Individual Gold medal in the 10m air rifle event.With that Gold Pakistan now hold the dubious distinction of being most populous country to not have won an individual gold medal at summer Olympics.Kudos Bindra!!

Edited by SK_Mod_PJ