Vadodara: That is the moment ‘Chak De’ for the entire country when the Indian men’s hockey team stormed the semifinals at the Olympics after 41 years.
While the sports lovers from Gujarat celebrated the event, very few who knew that the country only had one Olympic medal with its name.
And it’s in hockey.
In the past seven decades, Gujarat only got one Olympic medal won by Govindrao Sawant, a Barodian.
Sawant was part of the Indian Hockey team participating in the 1960 Rome Olympics.
“The team has played at the Olympics in Rome and we have reached the final against Pakistan.
We lost the match and ended up as runner-up.
As a member of the team, Sawant got a silver medal,” Laxman said Karanjgaonkar, Secretary of the Gujarat State Athletic Association.
“After that, Gujarat has not won the Olympic medal in the team or individual match.
However, this year three girls from Gujarat participated in the Olympics,” Karanjgaonkar, who is an executive member of the Indian Athletics Federation, added.
Sawant, who was born in a humble middle class family in a state of Baroda, on November 25, 1935, was taken to a hockey at a very young age.
He used to play for Bombay province before Gujarat and Maharashtra carved as a different state in 1960.
“He played at Rangaswamy Beach, the Senior National Hockey Tournament, for the first time in 1951 where he represented the Bombay Province.
Sawant was used to play on The left-left position and the game is very good so he was chosen for the Roman Olympics, “said Vikas Prajapani, Assistant Director, Department of Physical Education, University MS.
Sawant was also offered by work by the State Reserve Police (SRP) and he retired as a police deputy supervisor (DYSP).
After retiring from the Hockey in the early 1970s, Sawant played an important role in the Hockey Association of the Baroda District and began training the players who aspired to be high.
During the days of play, he used to run between the city of Vadodara and Padra Taluka and covered a distance of almost 50 km to increase his stamina.
Despite being the winner of the Olympian medal, Sawant has fulfilled poor care by the state government that does not recognize his achievements.
In 2001, he underwent a knee replacement surgery at SSG Hospital because he did not have enough money.
Sawant died in the same year in a few months after surgery.
The Baroda District Hockey Association has started the tournament in his name later.