From epic dominance to harrowing drought

India’s dominance in hockey for nearly three decades, spanning six Olympics in the previous century, is one of the Games’ epic tales. Olympic glory first gave the country, which was firmly under British rule, its own identity, and in subsequent years earned it a lot of pride on the global stage.

India’s first gold medal, even if it was against a depleted field in the 1928 Amsterdam Games, was an unheard-of moment for a nation experiencing its freedom struggle.