Note: Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award was formerly known as Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and renamed in 2021
| # | Sport | Sportsperson | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | First person and first Chess player to be awarded | Viswanathan Anand | 1991-92 |
| 2. | First Billiards player to be awarded | Geet Sethi | 1992-93 |
| 3. | First Yachting sportsperson to be awarded | Homi Motivala and Pushpendra Kumar Garg | 1993-94 |
| 4. | First Weightlifter and also first Woman to be awarded | Karnam Malleswari | 1994-95 |
| 5. | First Tennis player to be awarded | Leander Paes | 1996-97 |
| 6. | First Cricket player to be awarded | Sachin Tendulkar | 1997-98 |
| 7. | First Athlete and also first Woman Athlete to be awarded | Jyotirmoyee Sikdar | 1998-99 |
| 8. | First Hockey player to be awarded | Dhanraj Pillay | 1999-2000 |
| 9. | First Badminton player to be awarded | Pullela Gopichand | 2000-01 |
| 10. | First Shooting sportsperson to be awarded | Abhinav Bindra | 2001 |
| 11. | First Shooting sportswoman to be awarded | Anjali Bhagwat | 2002 |
| 12. | First Boxing sportsperson to be awarded | Mary Kom | 2009 |
| 13. | First Wrestler to be awarded | Sushil Kumar | 2009 |
| 14. | First Gymnast to be awarded | Dipa Karmakar | 2016 |
| 15. | First Woman Wrestler to be awarded | Sakshi Malik | 2016 |
| 16. | First Para-athlete to be awarded | Devendra Jhajharia | 2017 |
