India's performance in field hockey at Olympics
Olympic Games are only 10 days away from getting underway on July 26 as India is set to send an 118-member contingent for the mega event. Among 10 gold medals India has won at the Olympics, 8 have come from field hockey. Let us have a look at their performance in Olympic history.
Field hockey has always been the strongest sport for India especially at the Olympics. India has been the most successful team in the history of Olympics in the sport having won a total of eight gold medals. Unfortunately, the dominance has never been the same since 1980 but the team is returning to its best over the last few years. India's men's hockey team ended the 41-year medal drought in the sport at the Tokyo Olympics winning the Bronze medal and the hopes are high this time around.
India made its debut at the Olympics in 1900 itself despite being under the British rule and their dominance in hockey started from 1928 when Dhyan Chand was at the helm of the team. Under his leadership, India won back to back gold medals in 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympics. India's first gold medal as an independent nation also came in hockey with Balbir Singh Sr leading the team to glory at the Games. The top medal followed in 1952 and 1956 while India lost to Pakistan in the final to settle with silver in 1960 Rome Olympics.
Though the performance was up and down in the subsequent summer games, India still managed to win gold in hockey in 1964 and 1980 while securing bronze in the other events. But after 1980, there was a massive medal drought in the sport but the team led by Manpreet Singh, on August 5, 2021, created history in Tokyo winning the bronze medal. The men in blue stunned Germany 5-4 their first medal for the country in the sport in 41 years.
India's performance in field hockey at the Olympics:
Total medals - 12
Gold - 8, Silver - 1, Bronze - 3
India's Hockey squad for Paris Olympics 2024
Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh
Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Sanjay
Midfielders: Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad
Forwards: Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh
Alternate players: Nilakanta Sharma, Jugraj Singh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak
India's schedule at Paris Olympics
July 27 - India vs New Zealand - 9 PM IST
July 29 - India vs Argentina - 4:15 PM IST
July 30 - India vs Ireland - 4:45 PM IST
August 1 - India vs Belgium - 1:30 PM IST
August 2 - India vs Australia - 4:45 PM IST