Leando Negre, President of International Hockey Federation presenting Dil Bahra with the FIH Olympic tie at Hockey Writers' Club Luncheon in January 2013. Photo Peter Savage/HockeyImages.co.uk

Trivia

 
 

Sikh Hockey Umpires


Gian Singh and Harbail Singh umpired classification match, Italy v Japan on 10 September 1960 at Olympic Velodrome, the only time two Sikhs have umpired together in a hockey match at Olympic Games

 
 
 
 

First Sikh Women to play at Olympic Games


Harpreet Kaur Gill and Balwinder Kaur Bhatia became the first Sikh Women to represent India at Olympic Games when they played at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games

 
 
 
 

Pargat Singh - India's captain at two Olympics


Pargat Singh is the only player to have Captained India at two Olympic Games (1992 & 1996)

 
 
 
 


Avtar Singh Sohal captained Kenya at three consecutive Olympic Games (1964, 1968 & 1972). He was Kenya's Coach at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games

 
 
 
 


Avtar Singh Sohal and Surjit Singh Panesar played in four consecutive Olympic Games, 1960 Rome, 1964 Tokyo, 1968 Mexico City and 1972 Munich

 
 
 
 


Kuldip Singh represented Hong Kong at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. He scored a goal in the game against Canada. He later represented Canada at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games

 
 
 
 


With the exception of the 1928 and 1936 Olympic Games, Sikhs have scored in every Olympic Games since 1928

 
 
 
 


In the pool match at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games (2nd September 1972) between India and Kenya, there were fifteen Sikhs on the field of play. Five goals were scored in that match, three by India and two by Kenya. All the goals were scored by Sikhs (Mukhbain Singh & Harmik Singh for India and Davinder Singh Deegan for Kenya)

 
 
 
 


Thirty Sikhs played at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games representing Kenya, Uganda, India and Malaysia

 
 
 
 

Indian Olympic Teams


Sikhs have been in every Indian Team from 1928 to 2020

 
 
 
 

Goals scored by Sikhs at Olympic Games


Sikhs have Scored 286 goals at Olympic Games

 
 
 
 

Positions Sikhs have played in at Olympic Games


Sikhs have played in every position at Olympic Games

 

 
 
 
 


India's Prithipal Singh has won Gold (1964), Silver (1960) and Bronze (1968) Medals

 
 
 
 


Kenya's Amarjit Singh Marwa and Canada's Sarbjit Singh Dusang are the only Sikhs to have played in Goal at Olympic Games. Amarjit played at the Munich Games in 1972 and Sarbjit at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games

 
 
 
 


Balkrishen Singh is the only person to have coached India in 4 different Olympics - 1968, 1980, 1984 and 1992

 
 
 
 


Dharam Singh ‘Senior' won Olympic Gold Medal both as a player and as a coach. He was a member of the Gold Medal winning team in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and was the Chief Coach of the team that won the Gold Medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games

 
 
 
 


Balkrishen Singh won Olympic Gold Medal both as a player and as a coach. He was a member of the Gold Medal winning team in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and was the Chief Coach of the team that won the Gold Medal in the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games

 

 
 
 
 


The biggest score in an Olympic hockey match is the 24 - 1 victory of India over USA played on August 11, 1932. Gurmeet Singh scored 5 of these goals

 
 
 
 


Brothers Jitender Singh Panesar and Manjeet Singh Panesar played in the same games in 1984 for Kenya

 
 
 
 


Brothers Rajinder Singh Sandhu & Amarjit Singh Sandhu; Kuldip Singh Bhogal & Ajit Singh Bhogal; Jagdish Singh Kapoor & Upkar Singh Kapoor played for Uganda at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games

 
 
 
 


Brothers HarmIk Singh and Ajit Singh played in the same games in 1972 for India

 
 
 
 


Brothers Harvinder Marwa and Amarjit Marwa played in the same games in 1972 for Kenya

 
 
 
 


Brothers Balbir Singh (Railways) and Gurbux Singh played in the same games in 1968 for India

 
 
 
 


Balbir Singh ‘Senior' scored five goals in a 6 - 1 Gold Medal victory over the Netherlands at Helsinki in 1952

 
 
 
 


Udham Singh boasts the record of having won three Gold Medals (1952 Helsinki, 1956 Melbourne and 1964 Tokyo) and also a Silver medal (1960 Rome)

 
 
 
 


Balbir Singh ‘Senior' is one of only two players to have won three consecutive Gold Medals and being the captain of a winning side

 
 
 
 


Balbir Singh ‘Senior' won three consecutive Gold Medals (1948 London, 1952 Helsinki & 1956 Melbourne)

 
 
 
 


Ajit Singh of India set two records when scoring a single goal. He scored the first goal in the opening game in 1976 in the Montreal games against Argentina, which made him the scorer of the first Olympic goal on an artificial pitch. And as his shot went into the net after only 15 seconds it is also the fastest ever goal in Olympic history

 
 
 
 


Sikhs have represented nine different countries at hockey at Olympics (Canada, Great Britain, Hong Kong, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Singapore, Tanzania and Uganda)

 
 
 
 


Sikhs have been in the Gold Medal winning teams on nine occasions (eight for India and one GB)

 
 
 
 


One hundred and sixty Sikh players have played hockey at Olympic Games since 1928