[In Pictures] Indian men’s hockey team holds roadshow in Bhubaneswar to celebrate bronze medal win at Paris 2024 Olympics
The Indian men’s hockey team celebrated their historic bronze medal win at the recently concluded Paris 2024 Olympics with a splendorous roadshow through the roads of Odisha’s capital Bhubaneswar on Wednesday, August 21.
After arriving at the Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA), where they were received by members of the Odisha government as well as a large crowd of fans, Harmanpreet Singh and Co. traveled through Bhubaneswar, waving their hands and showing off their bronze medal at the onlooking crowd of admirers.
Let’s take a look at the pictures from the roadshow in Bhubaneswar:
Indian men’s hockey team wins consecutive bronze medal at Paris 2024 Olympics
After a 52-year wait for an Olympic medal, the Indian men’s hockey team blazed their way through to a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. In Paris 2024, they staked claim as one of the best hockey teams in India’s history by winning back-to-back bronze medals, defeating Spain by 2-1 in the bronze medal playoff match.
The Men in Blues showed some wonderful displays of hockey throughout the quadrennial tournament, bringing down giants such as Australia and Great Britain. The Indian team defeated the Kookaburras in a historic victory – the first in 52 years. They also downed Britain despite going down to 10 men early in the match.
Despite their fantastic run in the Paris 2024 Olympics, their hopes of winning India’s first Olympic gold medal in hockey since the Moscow 1980 Olympics were dashed when the German team – ranked fourth in the world – defeated them 3-2 in the semi-final match.
However, the Indian men’s hockey team returned to salvage their campaign by defeating Spain and securing a bronze medal. Moreover, their talismanic captain Harmanpreet Singh finished the Paris 2024 Olympics campaign as the tournament’s leading goalscorer, with 10 goals.
As the Indian men’s hockey team celebrates their victory at the Paris 2024 Olympics, the team will gear up and prepare for their upcoming challenge at the 2026 Asian Games at Aichi-Nagoya in Japan.