India at Olympics: Every member of the medal-winning hockey teams

Field Hockey was introduced at the Olympic Games as a men's competition at the 1908 Games in London. Later, it was removed from the Summer Olympic Games at the 1924 Paris Games because of the lack of sporting infrastructure. But after FIH's foundation in Paris, Men's field hockey became a permanent sport in the Olympics.

Spain has appeared in most Olympic men's competitions without winning the men's gold medal. They have won silver three times (1980, 1996, and 2008) and bronze once in 1960. Australia had competed in 12 Olympics without winning gold before finally winning it in 2004.

India are the most successful team at the Olympics, winning 13 medals (8 Gold, 1 silver, and 4 bronze). The Indian Men's Hockey Team won the gold medal in seven out of eight Olympics from 1928 to 1964. They lost dominance after the 1980s as their last gold came in 1980. India won the bronze medal in the Summer Olympics of 2024 in Paris. So, we must revisit India's success in this exciting sport.

Read Also: Indian Debutants to watch out for in Paris Olympics 2024

Every Gold Medal India has won at the Olympics

India's Hockey Team is the most successful ever in the Olympics, having won a total of eight gold medals – in 1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1964, and 1980. Six of those Gold Medals came in consecutive editions (from 1928-1956) and they added two more at Tokyo in 1964 and Moscow in 1980.

Top Five Players Who Became Legends for India in Hockey with Their Brilliant Performances at the Big Stage like Olympics

Dhyan Chand | Olympic Gold Medalist: 1928, 1932, 1936

Dhyan Chand was the best hockey player in the history of the game. He was called the Wizard because of his skills and finishing. Dhyan Chand scored plenty of goals, including hat-tricks in two Olympic finals. He made his Olympic debut with the Indian hockey team in Amsterdam in 1928 and scored 14 goals en route winning the gold medal. He went on to win two more gold medals in consecutive Olympics at Los Angeles in 1932 and Berlin in 1936. Dhyan Chand completed a hat-trick of Olympic golds and took retirement, holding an unbeaten Olympic record to his name.

Balbir Singh Sr. | Olympic Gold Medalist: 1948, 1952

Balbir Singh Sr is widely acknowledged as one of the best centre-forwards in hockey history. He scored eight goals in two matches to win the Olympic hockey gold with India in 1948. He led the team to a second hat-trick of Olympic golds, scoring five goals in the Helsinki 1952 final, a record to date. With these incredible achievements, Balbir Singh wrote his name in golden letters in the history books.

Mohammad Shahid | Olympic Gold Medalist: 1980

Mohammad Shahid is one of the legends of the game. He made his debut for the Indian hockey junior team in 1979 and after impressing everyone with his skill, he was included in the Olympics squad for 1980. He led India to their eighth and final Olympic gold medal in Moscow in 1980. 

Dhanraj Pillay | Asian Games Gold Medalist: 1998

Dhanraj Pillay comes among the legends of Indian Hockey. He made his debut for the Indian hockey team in 1989 and became one of the best players. He couldn't win a gold medal with Indian in the Olympics but was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 1995 for his incredible performances. He also led the Indian hockey team to an Asian Games gold in 1998 after a 32-year gap. Pillay played in four Olympics, four World Cups, four Asian Games, and four Champions Trophy tournaments, the only player to do so in a 15-year-long international career.

PR Sreejesh | Olympic Bronze Medalist: 2020, 2024

PR Sreejesh's primary sport in childhood wasn't hockey but still managed to make his name big in this sport. PR Sreejesh’s leadership and superb shot-stopping skills established him as one of the top goalkeepers in the world. In his third Olympic appearance at Tokyo 2020, PR Sreejesh was at his peak and led the Indian Team to an Olympic bronze, ending a 41-year medal drought. Then again in the Paris Olympics 2024, Indian Men's Hockey Team clinched bronze and Sreejesh played a crucial role in their journey. A memorable farewell to him as he had already announced it was going to be his last tournament.

Read Also: Paris Olympics 2024: Indian athletes who qualified for the Paris 2024

The Indian Men's Hockey Team in the 2024 Paris Olympics

The Indian men’s hockey team won the bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, their second consecutive bronze medal in the Summer Olympics. India’s start was really good. India finished second in their group with 3 victories, 1 draw, and 1 loss. They managed to beat Australia in the Olympics after 52 years. In the Quarter-Finals against Great Britain, the result decided in the shootout. India progressed with a 4-1 scoreline. 

The Semi-final was a tough match against the favourites Germany. The Indian Men's Hockey side gave their best but lost 3-2 after four quarters. They played against Spain in the Bronze Medal match and clinched a 2-1 narrow victory to secure the bronze medal for the second consecutive time. The best drag flickers in the world and the skipper Harmanpreet Singh led from the front, scoring 10 times in 8 games.

Read Also: 10 athletes to watch out for at Paris Olympics 2024

India at Olympics: Every Member of the Medal-winning Hockey Teams

1928 Amsterdam Olympics | Position: Gold Medal | India 3-0 Netherlands

• Date: 17^th May-26^th May 1928
• Squad: Jaipal Singh (C), Richard Allen, Dhyan Chand, Maurice Gateley, William Goodsir-Cullen, Leslie Hammond, Feroz Khan, George Marthins, Rex Norris, Broome Penniger (VC), Michael Rocque, Frederic Seaman, Ali Shaukat, Sayed Yusuf, Kher Singh Gill and Nawab of Pataudi.

1932 Los Angeles Olympics | Position: Gold Medal | India 11-1 Japan

• Date: 4^th August-11^th August 1932
• Squad: Lal Shah Bokhari (C), Richard Allen, Muhammad Aslam, Frank Brewin, Richard Carr, Dhyan Chand, Leslie Hammond, Arthur Hind, Sayed Jaffar, Masud Minhas, Broome Penniger, Gurmit Singh Kullar, Roop Singh, William Sullivan and Carlyle Tapsell.

1936 Berlin Olympics | Position: Gold Medal | India 8-1 Germany

• Date: 4^th August-15^th August 1936
• Squad: Dhyan Chand (C), Richard Allen, Ali Dara, Lionel Emmett, Peter Fernandes, Joseph Galibardy, Earnest Goodsir-Cullen, Mohammed Hussain, Sayed Jaffar (VC), Ahmed Sher Khan, Ahsan Khan, Mirza Masood, Cyril Michie, Baboo Nimal, Joseph Phillips, Shabban Shahab-ud-Din, G.S. Garewal, Roop Singh and Carlyle Tapsell.

1948 London Olympics | Position: Gold Medal | India 4-0 Great Britain

• Date: 31^st July-13^th August 1948
• Squad: Kishan Lal (C), Leslie Claudius, Keshav Dutt, Walter D’Souza, Lawrie Fernandes, Ranganathan Francis, Gerry Glacken, Akhtar Hussain, Patrick Jansen, Amir Kumar, Leo Pinto, Jaswant Singh Rajput, Latif-ur-Rehman, Reginald Rodrigues, Balbir Singh Sr., Randhir Singh Gentle, Grahanandan Singh, K. D. Singh Babu (VC), Trilochan Singh and Maxie Vaz.

1952 Helsinki Olympics | Position: Gold Medal | India 6-1 Netherlands

• Date: 15^th July-24^th July 1952
• Squad: K. D. Singh Babu (C), Leslie Claudius, Meldric Daluz, Keshav Dutt, Chinadorai Deshmutu, Ranganathan Francis, Raghbir Lal, Govind Perumal, Muniswamy Rajgopal, Balbir Singh Sr., Randhir Singh Gentle, Udham Singh, Swarup Singh, Jaswant Singh, C.S. Dubey, C.S. Gurung, Dharam Singh and Grahanandan Singh.

1956 Melbourne Olympics | Position: Gold Medal | India 1-0 Pakistan

• Date: 23^rd November-6^thDecember 1956
• Squad: Balbir Singh Sr.(C), Leslie Claudius, Ranganathan Francis, Haripal Kaushik, Amir Kumar, Raghbir Lal, Shankar Lakshman, Govind Perumal, Amit Singh Bakshi, Raghbir Singh Bhola, Hardyal Singh Garchey, Randhir Singh Gentle, Balkishan Singh Grewal, Gurdev Singh Kullar, Udham Singh Kullar, Bakshish Singh, O.P. Malhotra and Charles Stephen.

1960 Rome Olympics | Position: Silver Medal | India 0-1 Pakistan

• Date: 26^th August-11^thSeptember 1960
• Squad: Leslie Claudius (C), Joseph Antic, Jaman Lal Sharma, Mohinder Lal, Shankar Laxman, Victor John Peter, Govind Sawant, Raghbir Singh Bhola, Udham Singh Kullar, Charanjit Singh, Jaswant Singh, Joginder Singh, Prithipal Singh, Balkishan Singh Grewal, Cinnadorai Deshmuthu, Kulwant Arora, Bandu Patil, Erman K Bastian, Shanta Ram, Hari Pal Kaushik and J. Mascarenhas
  
  

1964 Tokyo Olympics | Position: Gold Medal | India 1-0 Pakistan

• Date: 11^thOctober-23^rd October 1964
• Squad: Charanjit Singh (C), Shankar Laxman, R A Christy, Prithipal Singh, Dharam Singh, Gurbux Singh, Mohinder Lal, Jagjit Singh, Rajinder Singh, Joginder Singh, Hari Pal Kaushik, Harbinder Singh, Balbir Singh, Bandu Patil, Victor John Peter, Udham Singh Kullar, Darshan Singh and Syed Mushtaq Ali
  
  

1968 Mexico Olympics | Position: Bronze Medal | India 2-1 West Germany

• Date: 13^th October-26^th October 1968
• Squad: Prithipal Singh (C), R A Christy, Krishnamurty Perumal, Victor John Peter, Inam-Ur Rahman Munir Sait, Ajitpal Pal Singh, Balbir Singh (Services), Balbir Singh (Railways), Balbir Singh (Punjab) Gurbux Singh, Harbinder Singh, Harmik Singh, Inder Singh, Tarsem Singh, Dharam Singh and Jagjit Singh

1972 Munich Olympics | Position: Bronze Medal | India 2-1 Netherlands

• Date: 27^thAugust-10^thSeptember 1968
• Squad: Harmik Singh (C), B. P. Govinda, Charles Cornelius, Manuel Frederick, Michael Kindo, Ashok Kumar, M. P. Ganesh, Krishnamurty Perumal, Ajitpal Singh, Harbinder Singh, Harcharan Singh, Kulwant Singh, Mukhbain Singh, Virender Singh, Aslam Sher Khan, Vece Paes, V J Philips and Ajit Singh
  
  

1980 Moscow Olympics | Position: Gold Medal | India 4-3 Spain

• Date: 20^thJuly-29^thJuly 1968
• Squad: Vasudevan Baskaran (C), Bir Bahadur Chettri, Allan Schofield, Sylvanus Dung Dung, Rajinder Singh, Davinder Singh, Gurmail Singh, Ravinder Pal Singh, MM Somaya, Maharaj Krishan Kaushik, Charanjit Kumar, Merwyn Fernandes, Amarjit Singh Rana, Mohd. Shahid, Surinder Singh Sodhi, and Zafar Iqbal
  
  

2020 Tokyo Olympics | Position: Bronze Medal | India 5-4 Germany

• Date: 23^rd July-8^th August 2021
• Squad: PR Sreejesh, Harmanpreet Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Birendra Lakra, Surender Kumar, Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh (Captain), Vivek Sagar Prasad, Nilakanta Sharma, Sumit, Shamsher Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Simranjeet Singh, Mandeep Singh
  
  

2024 Paris Olympics | Position: Bronze Medal | India 2-1 Spain

• Date: 27^th July-8^th August 2024
• Squad: Harmanpreet Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Abhishek, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Gurjant Singh, Sanjay Dabra, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, P. R. Sreejesh, Sumit Walmiki, Shamsher Singh, Raj Kumar Pal, Amit Rohidas, Vivek Prasad, Sukhjeet Singh