K. D. Jadhav was an Indian athlete who won the first-ever gold medal for India at the Olympics. He was born in Bombay and trained as a boxer at the Army Sports Institute in Pune. He participated in six editions of the Olympic Games between 1952 and 1972, reaching the finals in 1956 and 1964.

He made his international debut at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Olympics, where he won a bronze medal in boxing with a defeat against Ugo Petrozzi of Italy. At the 1956 Melbourne Games, he finished fourth with a loss to Henry Armstrong of the United States. The following year he reached the semifinals where he lost again to Armstrong but then went on to win his first-ever gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics defeating Henry Armstrong on a points decision (8–6). In 1964 Jadhav finished third after losing to Armstrong once again but then reached his second consecutive final where he lost by decision (10–11) against Armand Grau of France.