SSC
India won its first Olympic gold medal in men's hockey in:
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Answer: Option B — 1928 (Amsterdam)
Detailed Solution
India won its first Olympic gold medal in men's field hockey at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics in the Netherlands. It was India's first appearance in Olympic hockey and also India's first Olympic gold medal in any sport.
India at the 1928 Olympics:
- The team was captained by Jaipal Singh Munda, though Eric Pinniger led the side in the later matches after Jaipal Singh left.
- India played five matches, scoring 29 goals and conceding none.
- In the final on 26 May 1928, India defeated the host nation, the Netherlands, 3-0.
- Dhyan Chand was the tournament's top scorer, with 14 goals, and became world famous.
- The team was sent by the newly formed Indian Hockey Federation (1925).
India's golden era in Olympic hockey:
- 1928 Amsterdam: gold (captain Jaipal Singh Munda).
- 1932 Los Angeles: gold (captain Lal Shah Bokhari); India beat the USA 24-1.
- 1936 Berlin: gold (captain Dhyan Chand); India beat Germany 8-1 in the final.
- 1948 London: gold (captain Kishan Lal); the first gold for independent India, beating Great Britain 4-0 in the final.
1952 Helsinki: gold (captain K. D. Singh Babu).
1956 Melbourne: gold (captain Balbir Singh Sr.).
India won six consecutive golds from 1928 to 1956 and 30 straight Olympic matches during this period.
Later golds came in 1964 Tokyo (beating Pakistan) and 1980 Moscow, making a total of eight, the most by any country in Olympic hockey.
Why not the other options?
- ✗1932 (Los Angeles) was India's second gold.
- ✗1936 (Berlin) was India's third gold, under Dhyan Chand.
- ✗1948 (London) was the first gold for independent India.
Quick tip
Remember: First Olympic hockey gold = 1928 Amsterdam (beat Netherlands 3-0; Dhyan Chand 14 goals); first gold after independence = 1948 London; total = 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.