Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav
Olympic wrestler (1926-1984)
- Born
- 15 January 1926, Karad
- Died
- 14 August 1984, Maharashtra
- Citizenship
- India, British Raj, Dominion of India
- Sport
- wrestling
- Occupation
- amateur wrestler
- Nickname
- KD
Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav (15 January 1925 – 14 August 1984) was an Indian freestyle wrestler. He is best known for winning a bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He was the first athlete from independent India to win an individual medal in the Olympics.
After Norman Pritchard who won two silver medals in athletics in 1900 under colonial India, Khashaba was the first individual athlete from independent India to win a medal at the Olympics. In the years before Khashaba, India would only win gold medals in field hockey, a team sport. He is the only Indian Olympic medalist who never received a Padma Award. Khashaba was extremely nimble on his feet, which made him different from other wrestlers of his time. He belonged to Goleshwar village near Karad.
He was posthumously awarded Arjuna Award in 2000 for his contribution to wrestling.
Competitions
| Competition | Year | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1948 Summer Olympics | 1948 | |
| 1952 Summer Olympics | 1952 |
Awards and honours
- Arjuna Award
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q3177430 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.