Major Dhyan Chand

Major Dhyan Chand's hockey stick seemed to have magic inside it. The ball stayed with him as if it were tied by an invisible string.

In three different Olympics — 1928, 1932 and 1936 — he led India to the gold medal. He scored so many goals that one team even asked to check whether his stick had a magnet or extra glue inside.

India celebrates his birthday, 29 August, as National Sports Day.

Dhyan Chand was born in 1905 in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, and joined the British Indian Army as a young sepoy. His talent for hockey was spotted early, and he became the star player of the Indian team that dominated Olympic hockey for a golden decade.

Under his lead, India won hockey gold at the 1928 Amsterdam, 1932 Los Angeles and 1936 Berlin Olympics. In the 1936 final in Berlin, India beat Germany 8–1, with Dhyan Chand scoring three goals.

He is estimated to have scored over 400 international goals in a career of about twenty years. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1956.

His birthday, 29 August, is celebrated as India's National Sports Day, and one of the country's highest sports honours, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, is named after him.