Paris (France): The Indian hockey team won bronze in the Paris 2024 Olympics replicating their feat from the previous edition. The team has been consistent in the recnet years and that has reflected in their performances in the recent years. But, there was an era when the Indian hockey team was a powerhouse and used to dominate the world hockey.
India won its 13th medal in hockey on Thursday and it added one more to their medal tally in the sport. India have eight gold medals, one silver and four bronze medals on their name. As the hockey team won a bronze in the Paris Game, we look at the team’s journey in each edition.
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.
