HOCKEY was introduced in the Indian army during British rule, hockey attracted the masses so much so that India won a hat-trick of gold medals not once but twice. Among the world’s premier sports with an Olympic legacy and featuring blue riband events like the World Cup, Champions Trophy and FIH Pro League One of the most ancient gamesform of the sport was played in Egypt some 4,000 years ago the history of hockey can be traced back to 1527 in Scotland. Back then, it was called ‘hokie’where players hit around a small ball with sticks. However, the first version of modern-day field hockey was developed by the British sometime between the late 18th and early 19th century. It was introduced as a popular school game then and made its way to the Indian army during British rule in the 1850s
INDIAN HOCKEY TEAM PERFORMANCE IN ALL OLMPICS
Amsterdam 1928: Indian hockey team won their first gold medal in the 1928 beating the Netherlands by 3-0. The team dominated the dutch side throughout the match to emerge triumphant.Los Angeles 1932: In the edition held in the USA, the Indian team continued their domination winning the gold. Interestingly, only three teams, India, USA and Japan participated in the hockey due to effects of the Great Depression and the costs to travle to United States. India thrashed USA by 24-1 in the final and won second gold in a row.
Berlin 1936: The Dhyan Chand-led hockey team completed hattrick of gold medals in this edition beating Germany by 8-1 in front of their home crowd in the final to finish at the top of the podium.
London 1948: When the Indian team traveled to United Kingdom, they assured Independent India’s first medal at the Olymopics beating Great Britain by 4-0 in the final.
Helsinki 1952: Indian hockey team was an unstoppable force at the time and they proved it by winning their fifth gold in the Olympics. They beat Netherlands by 6-1 in the final.
Melbourne 1956: This time, India were up against Pakistan and it was thrilling finale where the former beat the latter by 1-0.
Rome 1960: It was against an Indo-Pak final but the result ended India’s streak of six conesutive Olympic gold medals. Pakistan won the match by 1-0 and finished at the top of the podium.
Tokyo 1964: It was repeat of the last two final in the field hockey and India emerged triumphant. They won the fixture by 1-0 in a tough contrast and won the gold.
Mexico 1968: Indian hockey’s domination was now dwindling and it was the first time they didn’t made it into the final of the Olympics. India lost against Australia in the semi-final and then defeated West Germany inb the bronze medal.
Munich 1972: For the second consecutive time, India failed to secure a spot in the final after losing to Pakistan in the semi-final. The Men in Blue then beat Netherlands by 2-1 to clinch the bronze.
Tokyo 1980: Indian hockey regained their glory this edition as they beat Spain by 4-3 in a cloe contest to clinch gold. Notably, the teams directly entered into bronze and gold medal match afrom the group stage without playing the semi-finals. Althoug, the team regained their own glory by winning the gold, an era of tremendous struggle was yet to arrive.
Tokyo 2021: The life came full circle for the hockey team after they won a medal in the sport after a long gap of 41 years. It was same location where they had won a gold last time. India beat Germany by 5-4 in the bronze medal match and secured a podium finish after a long gap.
Paris 2024: It was a heartbreaking semi-final loss for the team as they lost against Great Britain in the semi-final. But, they defeated Spin in the next match to get a bronze medal.
CONCLUSION
India played five matches, scoring 29 goals and conceding none, with Dhyan Chand scoring 14 of them. The hockey wizard became the cornerstone of the Indian hockey team as it won two more gold medals in 1932 and 1936, completing a hat-trick of Olympic hockey golds. Dhyan Chand was made captain in 1936 in what would prove to be his final Olympic Games. India have been dominating the hockey sports in olympics.
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