With three gold medals in hockey, here's how India fared at Olympics before Independence

The first Olympic Games were held in 1896 in Athens, Greece, since then, the Games have been acting as a tool to promote the spirit of sports globally. 

When we talk about India at the Olympics, it was in 1900 when the country got representation at the Games for the first time, with Norman Pritchard participating in five men's events in athletics – 60m, 100m, 200m, 110m and 200m hurdles. He ended up winning two silver medals in athletics in 200m and 200m hurdles. It was India's first individual medal pre-independence. 

(Image: Norman Pritchard. Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

The concept to have an organisation for coordinating the Olympic movement in India is linked to India's participation in the 1920 and 1924 Olympics as the Indian national team did not compete at the Summer Olympics until 1920. 

Sir Dorabji Tata suggested the need for a sports body at the national level, leading to the formation of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in 1927, with Sir Dorabji Tata as its founding President. In 1927 itself IOA was officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee. In the 1924 Paris Olympics, eight athletes were selected to represent India. 

(Image: Paris Olympics 1924. Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

The era of India's dominance in men's hockey began when they won an Olympic gold medal in Amsterdam Games. Indian hockey legend Dhyan Chand scored 14 goals, including a hat-trick in the final against the Netherlands. Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) was established by this time. 

(Image: The Indian hockey team in a match, 1928 Amsterdam Summer Olympics. Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

India's terrific performance in the men's hockey event continued by winning a second-consecutive Olympic gold medal at Los Angeles Games in 1932. The Indian hockey team first beat Japan 11-1. They went on to register another massive win with a 10-goal charge from Roop Singh, Dhyan Chand's younger brother, and eight goals from the wizard himself securing a 24-1 win against the USA. 

(Image: The Indian hockey team against the USA team, 1932 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

With Dhyan Chand leading from the front, the Indian hockey team won the third medal, completing a hat-trick of Olympic golds at Berlin 1936. Throughout the event, India conceded only one goal which was in the final against Germany. India scored 38 goals in five matches. In the final match, Dhyan Chand's second hat-trick in the Olympic finals, that led to an 8-1 victory. 

The dominance of Indian hockey continued, with a first gold medal for India post-independence unsurprisingly coming from the men's hockey team at London Olympics 1948. Indian hockey team went on to become the most successful team ever in the Olympics, having won eight gold medals (1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1964 and 1980). Overall, India won 12 medals (8 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze).

The recent one was in 2020, when the Indian men's hockey team won a bronze medal at Tokyo Olympics, after a wait of 41 years for a medal in the sport. 

(Image: Dhyan Chand with the ball vs. France in the 1936 Olympic semi-finals. Credit: Wikimedia Commons)

(Data from official Olympics site)