When did India win its first Olympic gold medal in Hockey?

If there is one sport that has brought India the most laurels at the Olympics, it has to be field hockey. The sport is deeply etched in the sports folklore of the country and has made Indians proud at the Summer Games quite a few times.

Out of the 12 gold medals that India has won in the history of the Olympic Games, an awe-inspiring eight have come in field hockey. Such has been India’s hold in the sport that at one time, the men's national field hockey team was on a spree of six consecutive Olympic gold medal triumphs.

However, it was their first-ever gold medal win in the 1928 Amsterdam Games that set the ball rolling for years of success in the sport for India on the biggest stage.

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The story of India’s first field hockey gold at Amsterdam

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When the Indian men’s field hockey team returned from Amsterdam with an Olympic gold in 1928, the reception that they received was a clear indication of what it meant to the people of the country.

The said edition of the Olympics saw India competing in the sport for the first time. The team, led by Jaipal Singh Munda, had a mix of both Anglo-Indians and Indians. It included the likes of Dhyan Chand, who went on to become a legend of the sport. It was in fact Dhyan Chand’s four goals in India’s victorious opener against Austria that set the momentum for them.

The team went on an unbeaten run and convincingly won the gold medal match against the Netherlands, the host nation, with a 3-0 scoreline. With 14 goals, Dhyan Chand finished the Games as the highest scorer while India’s goalkeeper Richard Allen set an enviable record of not conceding a single goal and keeping a clean sheet throughout.

The win led to an unprecedented domination for the Indian men’s national team which went on to win gold medals in six consecutive Olympic games after Amsterdam in 1928 — Los Angeles (1932), Berlin (1936), London (1948), Helsinki (1952), and Melbourne (1956).

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