1984 South Asian Games

The 1984 South Asian Games (or 1st SAF Games) was the first edition of South Asian Games. It was held in Kathmandu, Nepal from September 17 to 23, 1984.^[1]

The number of disciplines were restricted to five only. Indian sportsmen topped the medal tally, winning 88 medals. Half of these medals were gold. There were 28 silver and 16 bronze medals won by India. Sri Lanka followed India by winning seven golds, 11 silver and 19 bronze medals whereas Pakistan got five gold, three silver and two bronze medals. As the games were held for the first time, all the gold medallists created new games records which were shattered in the subsequent editions. However, the two records created in swimming remain intact till date. Bula Choudhary of India won the 100-metre freestyle event clocking 1:2:81 whereas the Indian relay team won the 4x100 metre freestyle event which continue to find place in the record books. Football was the only team game which could fit into the scheme of the games. Its gold was claimed by Nepal.^[2]

Sports

There were 5 official sports for the 1st SAF Games. They were :-

Medal talley

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	India	44	28	16	88
2	Sri Lanka	7	11	19	37
3	Pakistan	5	3	2	10
4	Nepal	4	12	8	24
5	Bangladesh	2	8	13	23
6	Bhutan	0	0	2	2
7	Maldives	0	0	1	1

References