Dhyan Chand

Dhyan Chand (29 August 1905 – 3 December 1979) was an Indian field hockey player who is considered to be one of the greatest players of all time. Chand is most remembered for his goal-scoring feats and for his three Olympic gold medals (1928, 1932, and 1936) in field hockey, during an era where India was dominant in the sport.

Known as “The Wizard” for his superb ball control, Chand played his final international match in 1948, having scored more than 400 goals during his international career.

There have been many erroneous media reports over the years claiming that Dhyan Chand scored 6 goals in India's 8-1 victory over Germany in the 1936 Olympic final. However, Major Dhyan Chand in his autobiography titled “Goal!” published in 1952 by Sport & Pastime, Chennai, writes as follows:

“When Germany was four goals down, a ball hit Allen's pad and rebounded. The Germans took full advantage of this and made a rush, netting the ball before we could stop it. That was the only goal Germany would score in the match against our eight, and incidentally the only goal scored against India in the entire Olympic tournament. India's goal-getters were Roop Singh, Tapsell and Jaffar with one each, Dara two and myself three.”

The record for most goals by an individual in an Olympic final has belonged to Balbir Singh, Sr. another famous Indian hockey hero since the 1952 Helsinki Olympic games. He set this record by scoring 5 goals in India's 6-1 victory over Holland for the gold medal win. The previous holder of this record was England's Reggie Pridmore with his 4 goals in England's 8-1 victory over Ireland in the 1908 Olympic final.

International Hockey Federation records also attribute only 3 of the 8 goals to Dhyan Chand in the Berlin Olympic final.