Olympics moments: Hockey team wins bronze at 1968 Games

The gold medal at the 1964 Olympics for the Indian hockey team came as a relief for many considering that the talks of their superiority being on the wane was quite rife. By beating Pakistan in Tokyo, India had won back the confidence and proved that the silver medal in Melbourne four years earlier was nothing more than a blip.

But it all changed in 1968 in Mexico City. India entered the tournament with the team in a state of disarray. Till then, the biggest strength of the team was its camaraderie. Ahead of the 1968 Games, though, controversy over the captaincy split the dressing room. Gurbux Singh had captained India in most of the tournaments between 1964 and 1968. Yet, the federation named Prithipal Singh as the skipper. That came as a big shock to Gurbux, who was confident that he will lead India. Various theories did rounds: some said Prithipal was named the captain because there was no other way he could make the squad; others said Prithipal was favoured because he hailed from Punjab.

But Gurbux made his disappointment public, and the federation finally named them both as captains.

That unnecessary rift, quite apparently, had a direct impact on the team’s performance. They made a shocking start to their campaign, losing to lowly New Zealand 1-2. Jolted by the result, India got their act together and won their remaining group matches, though the scoreline was far from convincing.

In the semifinal, they were pitted against Australia — against whom they were still unbeaten. But this Indian side wasn’t like any of the previous ones, and the opposition always knew they would have their moments. Australia didn’t give India any space, and won 2-1 in extra time.

For the first time in Olympics history, India had failed to make the final. Though they didn’t return empty handed (India went on to beat West Germany 2-1 to clinch bronze medal), India’s decline began with their performance at Mexico City.