Golden moments of India's Olympic journey
India has so far won 10 gold medals in its Olympic history. With the 2024 Paris Olympic Games just a few days away, ET Sport looks back at each of those golden moments.
1928 First-ever gold
It was in Amsterdam 1928 where India’s three-decade long reign over the world of hockey began. The Indians won their first ever Olympic gold in hockey by beating Holland 6-0. Dhyan Chand scored 14 of India’s 29 goals at Amsterdam. Curiously, Great Britain did not send their hockey team. Just before the Olympics, Great Britain were drubbed 4–0 by India. It gave birth to a rumour that the ‘colonisers’ were afraid of losing to their ‘colony’ on an international stage. This rumour was so wide-spread that Dhyan Chand referred to it in his recollections, “I reiterate that this is mere hearsay (that England dropped out of the Amsterdam Games fearing the Indians), although we fondly hoped that at least in future Olympics we would have the honour of meeting Great Britain and showing them how good or bad we were. It is my regret that this hope was never realized so long as I participated in Olympic events.”
1932 Defending the fort
Global economic depression in 1928 meant that India, Japan and the United States were the only entrants competing for hockey honours at the Los Angeles Games. However, that does not take away from the fact that the Indians were far superior to any of their contemporaries. Indians beat Japan 11-1 and then thumped the United State 24-1.
1936 – Golden Hat-trick
Despite having comprehensively beaten the world in
