Saina Nehwal became the first Indian to win an Olympic badminton medal.
She won the women's singles bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Nehwal defeated China's Wang Xin in the bronze-medal match after Wang retired because of injury. The result made Nehwal the first Indian badminton player, male or female, to stand on an Olympic podium.
Her achievement followed a major rise in Indian badminton. Nehwal had already won the 2010 Commonwealth Games women's singles title and became the first Indian woman to reach the world number-one ranking in singles. Her Olympic medal helped inspire wider attention and investment in the sport in India.
P. V. Sindhu is often named in similar discussions because she later became the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. That does not change Nehwal's earlier record as India's first Olympic badminton medallist.