The Tokyo Olympics has been a mind-blowing factor for Indian Hockey, especially after their outstanding performance. Needless to say, both the men’s and women’s hockey teams have shown bombastic performance at the international level. Nowadays people are taking a special interest in the national sport of India – Hockey.
The present generation might have no idea how much Hockey was a loveable sport back in the day. It was once the most-viewed Indian sport; which has been taken over by Cricket in the present century. Right now people find Cricket as a much more desired sport not knowing the fact that Hockey holds a historic place in the Indian Sports league.
The Olympics Wins of the Indian Men’s Hockey Team:
1928 – Amsterdam, USA: the first Gold Medal win.
1932 – Los Angeles, USA: the second Gold Medal win.
1936 – Berlin, Germany: the third Gold Medal win.
1948 – London, England: the fourth Gold Medal win.
1952 – Helsinki, Finland, the fifth Gold Medal win.
1956 – Melbourne, Australia, the sixth Gold Medal win.
1964 – Tokyo, Japan, the seventh Gold Medal win.
1980 – Moscow, Russia, the eighth Gold Medal win.
The Wizard of Indian Hockey:
- 1936 – Adolf Hitler was ruling Germany. It was during his rule that the Berlin Olympics took place. Ironically, the men’s Hockey final match was between India vs. Germany. The Indian Hockey team was extremely nervous during the finals as it was tied against the German Hockey team which was a strong one.
- Not only that, previously Germany beat India during a match that shook the confidence of the Indian men’s Hockey team.
- Not many know that back then in time, Indian Men’s Hockey had a wizard or genius player amongst them. The name of the Hockey player was Major Dhyan Chand. Needless to say, he was a face-paced game player.
- Dhyan Chand was fabulous in his strategies which made India make more goals than Germany.
- As a result, Germany was able to secure only one goal against the Indian Hockey team. On the other hand, India scored a shocking eight goals against Germany. The best part was that three goals were secured by Dhyan Chand himself. It was a very well-renowned remarkable game back then.
- Hitler was so impressed with Dhyan Chand that the former even offered German Citizenship to the latter. Not only that, Hitler even offered him a place in the German army.
- However, Dhyan Chand was a true patriot so he did not bow down in front of the most horrendous dictator history has ever seen. He was a brave person and went on to say – India is not for Sale! This iconic phrase was marked in the history of Indian hockey.
- The whole iconic moment was shared between Hitler and Dhyan Chand during the prize distribution ceremony. However, Hitler was surprisingly impressed with the brevity of Hockey legend Dhyan Chand’s smart reply.
- Not many know that Adolf Hitler was the one who gave Dhyan Chand the name – Wizard of Hockey. Along with the presence of Dhyan Chand, Indian Men’s Hockey won a total of eight gold medals in the 1900s.
