Olympics
Olympics are leading international sporting events conducted across the world in which athletes from around the world participate. Olympics are held every four years in which every two years summer and winter Olympics take place in an alternating way. In Olympics more than 200 countries participate in different sporting events.
Modern day Olympics are inspired by the ancient Olympic games which were held in Olympia, Greece between 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. The modern day Olympics are the result of the efforts by Baron Pierre de Coubertin who was a French educator and historian. Baron founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894. Afterwards in 1896, the first modern Olympic Games started in 1896.
Just after 4 years, India entered Olympics to compete with the other countries.
India’s Olympic Gold medal Winners:
India had to go through many efforts to grab the Gold medal in Olympics. The list mentioned here is according to the timeline in which India won the Gold medal.
Amsterdam Olympics – 1928 (Indian hockey team - hockey)
India entered Olympics in 1900, afterwards the country had to wait 28 years to win its first Gold medal ever in Olympics. In 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, the Indian hockey team that consisted of both British and Indian players won its first Olympic gold medal for the country. Dhyan Chand was the top scorer of the tournament with 14 goals in the match.
Los Angeles Olympics – 1932 (Indian hockey team - hockey)
After the first gold medal in Amsterdam, the following Olympics were held in Los Angeles in 1932. This time also, the Indian hockey team won the second consecutive gold medal by scoring 44 goals. The team also won with a margin of 24-1 in a match played against USA in which 10 goals were scored by Roop Singh, Dhyan Chand’s brother and 8 goals by himself. India made a record of most goals scored and the most considerable win margin in this Olympic.
Berlin Olympics – 1936 (Indian hockey team - hockey)
London Olympics-1948 (Indian hockey team - hockey)
After World War II in 1948, Olympics was back and hosted in London. This Olympics was the special one for India because India played in this Olympics as an Independent nation.
In the finals of the hockey, the opponents were the Great Britain, the former colonizers of India. In this game India defeated Great Britain by 4-0, this was possible by the efforts of Balbir Singh Sr. This Olympic led to the 4rth gold victory of India.
Helsinki Olympics – 1952 (Indian hockey team - hockey)
Indian hockey team won their fifth successive gold medal in this Olympics. This time the Olympics was held in Helsinki, Finland. It was tougher for Indians to adapt with the Nordic weather of the Helsinki. Indian hockey team practiced in Copenhagen, Denmark before the Olympics in a training campaign to adapt to the cold weather condition of the region. In the finals, the Indian hockey team defeated Netherlands by 6-1. Balbir Singh Sr scored nine goals in three matches, in which five were scored in the finals.
Melbourne Olympics – 1956 (Indian hockey team - hockey)
This time Olympics was held in Melbourne, Australia. In the finals the Indian hockey team had to face the arch rivals Pakistan. Balbir Singh Sr. played despite of fracture in his right hand. After the stiff competition that took place, India claimed their sixth gold with a score 1-0.
Tokyo Olympics – 1964 (Indian hockey team - hockey)
After a long time, the Indian hockey team returned to the Olympic summit to grab the gold this time. In the finals, they faced Pakistan for third consecutive time. India won with a score of 1-0 with a penalty stroke goal. This was India’s seventh gold medal.
Moscow Olympics – 1980 (Indian hockey team - hockey)
With disappointed performance in the last Olympics, India came back with a galvanized team at the Moscow Olympics. In the finals, India had to face Spain and beat them with a score of 4-3. Thus, India claimed eighth gold medal and this was the last hockey gold for India at the Olympics.
Beijing Olympics – 2008 (Abhinav Bindra-men’s 10m air rifle shooting)
This Olympics was one of the best and unique for India. In this event, Abhinav Bindra won a historic gold medal in the men’s 10m air rifle. It was India’s first individual Olympic gold medal.
India had won overall nine gold medals till now, out of which eight had been won by the Indian hockey team. This time Olympics are being held in Tokyo and India is hoping for more gold medal.
India is a young and vibrant country. Population with more youths are prevalent in India. There is no lack of talent in the country. But the nation has to identify the new talents and give them a chance to grow. In this way, we can ensure more gold medals in Olympics.
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