SSC
Field hockey was included in the Olympic Games for the first time in:
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Answer: Option A — 1908
Detailed Solution
Men's field hockey was first played at the Olympic Games in 1908 in London. Only six teams took part, and all of them were from Britain and Ireland, apart from Germany and France. England won the gold medal, Ireland won silver, and Scotland and Wales shared bronze.
History of hockey at the Olympics:
- 1908 London: first appearance; England won.
- 1912 Stockholm: hockey was not included.
- 1920 Antwerp: hockey returned; Great Britain won.
1924 Paris: hockey was dropped again, partly because there was no international federation. This led to the founding of the FIH (Fédération Internationale de Hockey) in Paris in 1924.
1928 Amsterdam: hockey returned permanently, and India made its Olympic debut, winning gold.
1980 Moscow: women's hockey was introduced, and Zimbabwe won the first women's gold.
India's Olympic record in men's hockey:
- India has won 8 gold medals, the most by any country: 1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1964 and 1980.
- India won six consecutive golds from 1928 to 1956.
- India also won silver in 1960 (losing to Pakistan) and bronze medals in 1968, 1972, 2020 (Tokyo) and 2024 (Paris).
- The Tokyo 2020 bronze, won in 2021, was India's first Olympic hockey medal in 41 years.
Other key facts:
Hockey is played between two teams of 11 players each.
The Hockey World Cup began in 1971 (Barcelona). India won it in 1975 (Kuala Lumpur) under captain Ajit Pal Singh.
Why not the other options?
- ✗1896 was the first modern Olympics in Athens; hockey was not included.
- ✗1928 is when India first played Olympic hockey and won gold.
- ✗1920 is when hockey returned to the Olympics after missing 1912.
Quick tip
Remember: Olympic hockey debut = 1908 London (England gold); India's debut and first gold = 1928; women's hockey added = 1980; India = 8 golds.
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Sports — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Sports, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers sports GK: major tournaments and their venues, trophies and cups associated with each sport, sports terms, the number of players in a team, sports awards in India, Olympic and Asian Games facts, and famous sportspersons and their achievements. Common questions ask which sport a trophy belongs to (such as the Durand Cup for football or the Ranji Trophy for cricket), which term is used in which sport, and where a tournament was held. Records and results change after every season, so pair static facts such as team sizes and terms with recent results from current affairs. Practise the sports questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.