An Indian hockey fan’s view: The wait for a medal at the Olympics is over and doesn’t that feel good

I met the ex-India hockey goalkeeper Adrian D’souza in 2011 and I asked him: “If you have to select one, what would you pick – hockey World Cup or a medal at the Olympics?”

It was an easy one for him. There was no pause. No hesitation.

“Nothing like being an Olympian and there is nothing like an Olympic medal,” he answered.

As a kid who was into sports, all I ever wanted was a World Cup win for our cricket team and a gold medal at the Olympics or a World Cup for our hockey team.

That meeting with D’souza, changed my goals. Any hockey medal would be good as long as it came in the Olympics. I was one of the lucky ones who saw India winning the cricket World Cup at Wankhede. The hockey medal was now the elusive piece for me.

And we finally have it.

Growing up, I heard so many stories about the mythical dominance of Indian teams in this event – a jaw-dropping eight gold medals in men’s hockey at the Olympics. There was a famous Dhyan Chand interview where he mentioned that other teams in India were just as good as the one that they would select during the Olympics.

But all that was…

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