August 29 is celebrated as National Sports Day. It is also the birth anniversary of India’s phenomenal hockey player, Dhyan Chand who put India on the map by winning gold medals in three consecutive Olympics. He made India a force to reckon with in hockey.

It is in honour of Major Dhyan Chand that August 29 is celebrated as National Sports Day. On this day deserving athletes are bestowed with various sporting honours.

Dhyan Chand is regarded as the greatest hockey player of all time. He had extraordinary control over the ball that he could net easily to win laurels for the country. In his international career, he scored more than 400 goals. He continued to play till 1948 at which time he was 42.

He scored gold medals for India in  1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympics. In the final of the 1928 Olympics, two of the three Indian goals were made by Dhyan Chand in the final against the Netherlands. He had also topped the chart with 14 goals.

In 1932 Olympics, India routed Japan 11-1 in the finals to win the gold, Dhyan Chand had scored 4 goals.

At the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, India won gold again as Dhyan Chand scored 12 goals in two matches.

Initially, Dhyan Chand was more inclined towards wrestling. At the age of 14, he took up hockey and then there was no looking back.
For his splendid contribution to hockey, the Indian government awarded him the Padma Bhushan in 1956.