Top 10 Indian hockey players with most medals at Olympics

Published at :August 18, 2024 at 8:39 PM

Modified at :August 18, 2024 at 8:39 PM

India men’s hockey team won six consecutive medals at the Olympics.

Team India is one of the most successful countries in the world when it comes to field hockey. India has been on the podium 12 times for Hockey. Those triumphs include eight gold, a silver and three bronze medals. Hockey was first introduced at the Olympics in 1908 and India was so dominant back then that they won the gold medal consecutively in the first six editions.

Considering its rich history in the sport, it is no surprise that some of the greatest players to have played the game have been from India. Here is a look at the top 10 Indian hockey players with the most medals at the Olympics:

Note: Along with Harmanpreet Singh and P.R Sreejesh there are other Indian hockey player too who have won two medals. Likes of Keshav Dutt, Grahanandan Singh, Manpreet Singh, Shamsher Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh)

10. Harmanpreet Singh (2 medals)

Harmanpreet Singh, born in 1996, is a defender and the current captain of the Indian hockey team. Known for his penalty corner skills, he’s regarded as one of the world’s best drag flickers. Harmanpreet led the team to a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, his second bronze in three Olympic appearances.

9. P.R Sreejesh (2 medals)

Sreejesh, a former Indian hockey goalkeeper and team captain, is considered one of the best in hockey history. He played a crucial role in India’s bronze medal wins at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics. Sreejesh also won the FIH Best Male Goalkeeper award for 2020-21 and was part of gold-winning teams at the 2014 and 2022 Asian Games.

8. Prithipal Singh (3 medals)

Nicknamed as the ‘King of Short corners’, Prithipal Singh has won three Olympic medals for India. His medals consist of one gold, silver and bronze medals that he won in the 1964, 1960 and 1968 Olympics respectively. Playing mostly as a halfback, Prithitipal was a prolific goal scorer.

In the 1964 Tokyo Olympics in which India won the gold, India scored 22 goals throughout the campaign and 11 of them were scored by Prithipal alone. In 1961, Prithipal Singh became the first hockey player to win an Arjuna Award.

7. Shankar Lakshman (3 medals)

Shankar Lakshman played as a goalkeeper and was the first goalkeeper in history to captain an international hockey team. The former Indian captain won three Olympic gold medals for India which includes two gold and a silver.

The two gold medals came in the 1956 and 1964 Olympics while the silver medal was won in the 1960 Olympics. The goalkeeper was named the man of the match in the final of the 1964 Olympic match against Pakistan.

6. Ranganathan Francis (3 medals)

Ranganathan Francis won three Olympic gold medals for India. He was a goalkeeper in the squad when India won three consecutive gold medals in 1948, 1952 and 1956. Francis was mostly the second-choice goalkeeper in all three of those campaigns. Ranganathan Francis along with Richard Allen is the only goalkeeper to have won three gold medals for India.

5. Randhir Singh Gentle (3 medals)

Randhir Singh Gentle played as a fullback for the Indian team that won three consecutive Olympic gold medals from 1948 to 1956. He was especially instrumental in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne where he also captained the team. Gentle finished the 1956 campaign with six goals which included the winner against Pakistan in the final.

4. Richard Allen (3 medals)

Along with Ranganathan Francis, Richard Allen is the only goalkeeper in India to win three Olympic gold medals. Richard’s three gold medals came in India’s three consecutive triumphs in 1928, 1932 and 1936. In the 1928 Olympics, he played in five matches without conceding a goal.

In the 1936 Olympics, he featured in four matches and conceded only one goal. Allen conceding only two goals over three campaigns is an Olympic record that still holds to this day.

3. Dhyan Chand (3 medals)

Dhyan Chand is inarguably the best Indian hockey player ever and one of the best to have ever played the game. Known as ‘The Wizard’, he holds numerous records to his name. Known for his incredible ball control and goal-scoring prowess, Chand led India to three Olympic triumphs in 1928, 1932 and 1936.

In those three tournaments, the centre forward scored 33 times including a hat-trick in the final of the 1936 Berlin Olympics against Germany. ‘The Wizard’ played 185 international matches for India in which he scored 570 goals.

2. Udham Singh Kular (4 medals)

Udham Singh Kular is one of the most decorated hockey players in Indian history. The centre-forward won three gold and a silver for India. The gold medals came in 1952, 1956 and 1964 and the silver came in the 1958 Olympics. Udham was also set to feature in the 1948 Olympics but missed out due to an injury.

Singh was a versatile player in his career and played in a number of different positions. The forward went on to become a coach for the Indian team and led them to a bronze medal in the 1968 Mexico Olympics.

1. Leslie Claudius (4 medals)

Leslie Claudius along with Udham Singh is the only Indian hockey player to win four medals. Those four medals include three gold and silver. The three gold medals were won in 1948, 1952, and 1956. Claudius captained the Indian squad in the 1960 Olympics where India won the silver medal with Dhyan Chand as the coach.

The halfback was the first Indian Hockey player to win four Olympic medals and also the first player to earn 100 international caps for India.

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