India Won Olympic Hockey Bronze 5-4 Against Germany on 5 August 2021 and 2-1 Against Spain on 8 August 2024, the First Back-to-Back Medals Since 1972

India’s men won Olympic hockey bronze twice in three years. They beat Germany 5-4 at the Oi Hockey Stadium in Tokyo on 5 August 2021, the team’s first Olympic medal since the Moscow gold of 1980, and beat Spain 2-1 at the Yves-du-Manoir stadium in Paris on 8 August 2024. The Paris match was the 336th and last international appearance of goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, according to the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

The two medals took India’s Olympic hockey total to 13: eight gold, one silver and four bronze, FIH reports. In its account of Sreejesh’s farewell, FIH describes India as the nation that has won more Olympic hockey medals than any other.

Six golds in a row, then a long gap

Olympedia, the database kept by Olympic historians, lists India’s Olympic hockey medals by year. Gold in 1928, 1932 and 1936, with the team listed as British India. Gold in 1948, 1952 and 1956. Silver in 1960. Gold in 1964, bronze in 1968 and 1972, and gold in 1980. The 1948 gold came a year after Partition. The Press Information Bureau (PIB), the government’s press office, says the six straight golds from 1928 to 1956 were unparalleled in the sport.

The 1980 gold came in an unusual field. Olympedia says the Western boycott of the Moscow Games “greatly devalued the hockey tournament,” and that only six teams played. India beat Spain 4-3 in the final after leading 3-0. Olympedia also records an 18-0 win over Tanzania in the group stage.

After 1980 the results fell away. FIH’s Sreejesh profile says India failed to qualify for Beijing 2008, finished bottom of the table in 12th place at London 2012 and eighth at Rio 2016. Tokyo was the first podium since Moscow, a gap of 41 years. FIH counted the wait for a ninth gold at 44 years when it wrote up the Paris semi-final.

Tokyo, 5 August 2021: 5-4 against Germany

India reached the bronze match after losing its Tokyo semi-final to Belgium. Manpreet Singh, the captain in Tokyo, recalled that loss in Paris three years later. The official FIH match report shows how the bronze match went.

Germany’s Timur Oruz scored in the second minute. Simranjeet Singh equalised in the 17th, but Niklas Wellen in the 24th and Benedikt Furk in the 25th put Germany 3-1 ahead. Hardik Singh (27th minute) and captain Harmanpreet Singh (29th) both scored from penalty corners, set pieces in which a player hits a drag-flick, a low hard shot, at goal from the edge of the circle, which made it 3-3 at half-time. Rupinder Pal Singh gave India the lead from a penalty stroke, a one-on-one against the goalkeeper, in the 31st minute, and Simranjeet added his second in the 34th for 5-3. Lukas Windfeder pulled one back from a penalty corner in the 48th.

Germany won a last penalty corner with six seconds left. The Asian Hockey Federation’s report says Sreejesh saved the drag-flick from the top of the circle.

“That is something which I never felt in my life until today,” Sreejesh said afterwards. Manpreet Singh said the team wanted to “dedicate this medal to our doctors and front-line warriors.”

PIB’s release of that day says President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the team, and that Modi spoke by phone to Manpreet Singh, head coach Graham Reid and assistant coach Piyush Dubey. Modi’s post began: “Historic! A day that will be etched in the memory of every Indian.”

Paris: a red card, a shoot-out and a semi-final loss

India’s route to the Paris bronze match went through two matches that FIH reported in detail.

In the quarter-final against Great Britain on 4 August 2024, Amit Rohidas was shown a red card just into the second quarter with the score 0-0, leaving India with ten players for the remaining 43 minutes. Harmanpreet Singh scored from a penalty corner five minutes later, and Britain’s Lee Morton equalised before half-time. The match finished 1-1 and went to a shoot-out of one-on-one attempts. Sreejesh denied Britain’s Phil Roper, Conor Williamson shot over, and Raj Kumar’s finish made it 4-2.

On 6 August India lost the semi-final to Germany 3-2. Harmanpreet Singh’s drag-flick, deflected off a German foot, opened the scoring. Gonzalo Peillat scored from a penalty corner, and Christopher Rühr converted a penalty stroke after Peillat’s second corner struck an Indian foot on the goal line. Sukhjeet Singh levelled six minutes into the third quarter. Marco Miltkau scored the winner for Germany six minutes from the end, which sent Germany to its first Olympic final since 2012.

Paris, 8 August 2024: 2-1 against Spain

The official FIH match report puts the bronze match at 14:00 on Pitch 1. Spain went ahead in the 18th minute when Marc Miralles converted a penalty stroke. Harmanpreet Singh equalised from a penalty corner in the 30th minute and scored again from a penalty corner in the 33rd.

Spain pushed for an equaliser in the closing minutes, and FIH’s report says Sreejesh made a series of saves to protect the lead.

It was Harmanpreet Singh’s tenth goal of the tournament, FIH says, and India scored fifteen in total at the Games, so he accounted for two-thirds of them. He had also scored in the Tokyo bronze match. Hockey India calls the pair of medals India’s second consecutive podium finish after 52 years. FIH adds that Spain’s fourth place was its best Olympic finish since Beijing 2008. Harmanpreet Singh told FIH: “We were here for gold, but unfortunately, that dream was shattered.”

FIH’s technical review of the Games found that 55 per cent of men’s matches in Paris ended in a draw or by one goal, against 34 per cent in Tokyo, and that the men’s tournament produced 155 goals against 209 in Tokyo. Both finals were decided by shoot-outs, a first in Olympic history, FIH says.

Sreejesh’s last match

FIH’s profile says Sreejesh sat alone on the goal’s backboard an hour before the bronze match. Paris was his fourth Olympics, after London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. He was named FIH Hockey Stars Goalkeeper of the Year in 2021 and 2022.

He said of the pitch, “that was my home for the last 24 years.” Hockey India held a ceremony for him in New Delhi on 14 August 2024, presenting Rs 25 lakh (Rs 2.5 million) and announcing that jersey number 16 would be retired from the men’s senior team. Hockey India’s president, Dilip Tirkey, called the ceremony a celebration of Sreejesh’s 18 years with the team.

Pro League, World Cup and Asian Games since Paris

India finished eighth of nine teams in the 2025-26 Pro League, FIH’s season-long league of national teams, according to its final standings. Belgium won the title, and with it a direct place at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, FIH reports.

At the 2026 World Cup, India played the 7th-8th place match against Belgium at the Belfius Hockey Arena in Wavre on 28 August. It finished 3-3 after Harmanpreet Singh scored a penalty corner with 26 seconds left, Hockey India says, and Belgium won the shoot-out 4-3, which left India eighth. Germany won the title two days later, beating Spain 1-0 in the final on 30 August, FIH reports.

Asian Games gold followed in Japan. India beat Pakistan 4-3 in the semi-final, Abhishek scoring the winner in the final minute, and Malaysia 5-1 in the final on 3 October. Harmanpreet Singh scored in the 11th and 57th minutes, Jugraj Singh in the 23rd, Hardik Singh from a penalty stroke in the 42nd and Shilanand Lakra in the 54th, FIH says. The result gave India a direct place at Los Angeles 2028, making it the third men’s team to qualify after the United States as hosts and Belgium. Tuput’s roundups of 1 October and 4 October covered the semi-final and the gold.

India is next in the Hero Asian Champions Trophy, a six-team tournament in Jalandhar and Mohali from 27 October to 5 November 2026, Hockey India says.