Two-time Olympic champion Keshav Datt passes away

Kolkata, July 8: Hockey legend and two-time Olympic gold medallist Keshav Datt passed away due to age-related complications in the early hours of Wednesday. He was 95.

 

 

Keshav Datt was an integral part of the Indian hockey team which won the gold medal at the 1948 London Olympics - the country’s first hockey medal at the Games post-independence. India beat the home team Great Britain 4-0 in the final that year to claim top honors.

 

 

Four years later, the talismanic half-back helped India defend the Olympic title at the 1952 Helsinki Games, beating the Netherlands 6-1 in the final. He was the team’s vice captain. He was the last surviving member of the 1948 and 1952 medal-winning Indian side. He was also part of the Indian hockey squad which toured East Africa in 1947 under the captaincy of the legendary Dhyan Chand.

 

 

Born in Lahore, Pakistan, on December 29, 1925, Keshav Datt represented Bombay, now Mumbai, after independence. He moved to Kolkata in 1950 and joined the Mohun Bagan hockey team. In the iconic green and maroon jersey, Keshav Datt won the Calcutta League six times and the prestigious Beighton Cup thrice. He also enjoyed two stints as the captain of the Mohun Bagan squad.

 

 

"We all grew up listening to incredible stories of their memorable outings for independent India at the Olympics and they went on to inspire generations of hockey players in the country,” Hockey India president Gyanendro Ningombam said in a statement. Keshav Datt, who breathed his last at his Santoshpur residence in Kolkata, is survived by two sons and a daughter.