The Indian men’s hockey team is widely heralded as one of the greatest sporting teams in history, staying undefeated for 32 years at the Olympics in the 20th century. In hockey, the India men’s team has won eight golds, three silvers, and one bronze medal, to become the most successful team ever at the Olympics across sports.
The journey for Indian hockey at the Olympics began in 1928 when the team participated at the Amsterdam Games under the British flag. The Indian men’s hockey team went on to win their first gold medal without conceding a goal under the leadership of Dhyan Chand, who is arguably considered the greatest hockey player of all time.
In the next two Olympic Games, Los Angeles 1932 and Berlin 1936, the Indian men’s hockey team continued their dominance in the sport, making it three consecutive gold medals in a row. The next two Olympic Games were not held due to World War II, following which India gained independence in 1947 before competing in London in 1948.
India’s first goal medal as an independent nation came after defeating Great Britain by 4-0 in 1948. The Indian dominance in men’s hockey continued in the 1950s with two more gold medals in Helsinki and Melbourne.
After winning 30 hockey matches in a row at the Olympics from 1928 onwards, India suffered their first defeat at the multi-sporting event against Pakistan in the final with a margin of 0-1 in Rome. With that, the Indian stranglehold on hockey at the Olympics came to an end, but in 1980, they were able to win their eighth gold medal in Moscow after some of the big nations withdrew their name from the games.
Following that, the Indian men’s hockey team had to wait for 41 years to win a medal at the Olympics, which happened three years ago in Tokyo when they got the better of Germany by 5-4 in a third-place playoff. With just a couple of weeks remaining for the Paris 2024 to start, the fans will be hoping that the team will reclaim its lost glory in hockey.
Also, the Indian women’s hockey team, who failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics later this month, came close twice to win a medal in their three multi-sporting event appearances thus far. The Indian women finished in fourth place on two occasions in the Moscow 1980 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.