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Athlete

Dhyan Chand

Also Known As The Wizard; The Magician of Hockey
Hockey Codes

Dhyan Chand is widely considered the greatest field hockey player in history, winning three consecutive Olympic gold medals with India in 1928, 1932 and 1936 and scoring by his own count more than 1,000 career goals. Dutch officials at the 1928 Games reportedly broke his hockey stick to check for a hidden magnet, unable to otherwise explain his ball control. The BBC has described him as hockey's equivalent of Muhammad Ali. India celebrates his birthday, 29 August, as National Sports Day, and the country's highest sporting honor is named after him. He received the Padma Bhushan in 1956 and died in 1979 of liver cancer. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Birth Year
1905 1
Birth Date
1905-08-29 1
Death Date
1979-12-03 1
Nationality
India 1
Career Highlight
After the 1936 Berlin Olympics, declined an offer of German citizenship and a colonel commission from Adolf Hitler, choosing to remain in the Indian Army instead. 1
Career Highlight
Scored 570 goals in 185 international matches between 1926 and 1949, according to his own autobiography, with over 1,000 goals across his full domestic and international career. 1
Career Highlight
Won three Olympic gold medals with India, at the 1928 Amsterdam, 1932 Los Angeles and 1936 Berlin Games, finishing as top scorer at the 1928 tournament with 14 goals. 1
Classification
Competition Category
Team 1
FAQs

What were Dhyan Chand's highest scoring games at the Olympics?

He scored eight goals against the United States in 1932 and three against Germany in the 1936 final.

Olympedia credits Dhyan Chand with two of the highest scoring individual performances in Olympic history. In 1932, against the United States, he scored eight goals as India won 24-1, and in 1936 he scored three goals against Germany as India won the final 8-1.
Connections

Competed In

Olympic Games, Competitions
Source Wikipedia, Dhyan Chand

Long-Form Articles

The Myth of Dhyan Chand's Six Goals, Articles

Plays

Field Hockey, Sports
Source Wikipedia, Dhyan Chand
In the Other Atlases

Is Discussed By

Adolf Hitler

Also in History Atlas: which discusses this subject.

Nationality

India

Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.

Source Wikipedia, Dhyan ChandLead sentence 1tier 2
Quote, Lead sentence 1
Major Dhyan Chand (29 August 1905 – 3 December 1979) was an Indian field hockey player.
Sources
1. Wikipedia, Dhyan Chand
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Introduction
    Dhyan Chand's influence extended beyond these victories, as India won the field hockey event in seven out of eight Olympics from 1928 to 1964. Known as The Wizard or The Magician of hockey for his superb ball control, Chand played internationally from 1926 to 1949, where he scored 570 goals in 185 matches according to his autobiography, Goal, and over 1,000 goals in his entire domestic and international career. BBC called him the "hockey's equivalent of Muhammad Ali".
  • Early life (birth year)
    Chand was born in Allahabad on 29 August 1905 in a Bais Rajput family
  • Wikipedia or cited reference, description lead (competition-category)
    Dhyan Chand is widely considered the greatest field hockey player in history, winning three consecutive Olympic gold medals with India in 1928, 1932 and 1936 and scoring by his own count more than 1,000 career goals.
  • Plays: Field Hockey
  • Competed In: Olympic Games
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