Maharashtra topped the National Games 2023 medals tally with 228 medals – 80 gold, 69 silvers and 79 bronze – to win the Raja Bhalindra Singh Trophy, which is given to the team that wins the most number of gold medals at the National Games. Maharashtra last topped the National Games medals table back in 1994.
The National Games 2023, India’s own multi-sport event inspired by the Olympics, was held in five cities in Goa – Mapusa, Margao, Panjim, Ponda and Vasco.
Athletes from 28 states, eight Union Territories and Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) competed at the 37th National Games, which was held from October 26 to November 9. Goa hosted the event for the first time in its history.
As many as 29 teams won at least one gold medal at the National Games 2023.
Services, who topped the previous four editions of the National Games, finished second with 66 gold, 27 silver and 33 bronze medals. Haryana were third in the standings with 62 gold, 54 silver and 73 bronze.
Over 10,000 athletes – around 3,000 more than the 2022 edition in Gujarat – competed for medals across 43 sports, which included traditional Olympic disciplines as well as indigenous sports like mallakhamb, kho kho and kabaddi, amongst others.
Sqay martial arts, rollball, sepaktakraw, kalaripayattu, pencak silat and mini golf were added to the National Games sports programme in 2023. Yachting and taekwondo, excluded in Gujarat 2022, were back in Goa.
The Games officially got underway on October 26 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Panaji. However, badminton, weightlifting, gymnastics and some of the other disciplines started before October 26.
Olympic swimmer Srihari Nataraj (eight gold, one silver and a bronze) was adjudged the best male athlete while gymnasts Sanyukta Prasen Kale and Pranati Nayak (four golds and one silver each) were adjudged the joint-best female athletes of the 37th National Games.
Bhavani Devi (individual sabre), Priyanka Goswami (20km race walk), Jyothi Yarraji (100m hurdles), Tejaswin Shankar (decathlon), Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (50m rifle 3P, 10m air rifle), Deepika Kumari ( recurve individual, mixed team) were among the top names to have won gold medals at the National Games 2023.
Here’s the full National Games 2023 medals table.
National Games 2023 medal tally
| Rank | State/Union Territory/Team | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maharashtra | 80 | 69 | 79 | 228 |
| 2 | Services | 66 | 27 | 33 | 126 |
| 3 | Haryana | 62 | 55 | 75 | 192 |
| 4 | Madhya Pradesh | 37 | 36 | 39 | 112 |
| 5 | Kerala | 36 | 24 | 27 | 87 |
| 6 | Karnataka | 32 | 32 | 37 | 101 |
| 7 | Manipur | 30 | 22 | 30 | 82 |
| 8 | Delhi | 29 | 26 | 67 | 122 |
| 9 | Goa | 27 | 27 | 38 | 92 |
| 10 | Tamil Nadu | 19 | 26 | 32 | 77 |
| 11 | Punjab | 17 | 26 | 32 | 75 |
| 12 | Assam | 14 | 20 | 22 | 56 |
| 13 | Rajasthan | 14 | 18 | 34 | 66 |
| 14 | Jammu and Kashmir | 14 | 14 | 18 | 46 |
| 15 | Uttar Pradesh | 11 | 24 | 36 | 71 |
| 16 | Odisha | 10 | 18 | 30 | 58 |
| 17 | Gujarat | 8 | 2 | 19 | 29 |
| 18 | West Bengal | 7 | 23 | 26 | 56 |
| 19 | Andhra Pradesh | 7 | 5 | 15 | 27 |
| 20 | Jharkhand | 6 | 5 | 14 | 25 |
| 21 | Arunachal Pradesh | 6 | 2 | 5 | 13 |
| 22 | Telangana | 4 | 10 | 11 | 25 |
| 23 | Chandigarh | 4 | 8 | 4 | 15 |
| 24 | Himachal Pradesh | 4 | 2 | 5 | 11 |
| 25 | Uttarakhand | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| 26 | Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| 27 | Mizoram | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| 28 | Chhattisgarh | 2 | 2 | 16 | 20 |
| 29 | Nagaland | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| 30 | Bihar | 0 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| 31 | Puducherry | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| 32 | Tripura | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 33 | Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 34 | Lakshadweep | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 34 | Sikkim | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |