National Sports Day 2024: History, Significance and a Tribute to Major Dhyan Chand

National Sports Day 2024: National Sports Day is celebrated every year on 29th August across the world. Sports are essential for the physical and mental health of a human being. People who engage in sports are physically fit. India has produced many sports legends like PT Usha aka Udanpari, Sachin Tendulkar aka Master Blaster and Major Dhyan Chand aka The Wizard of Hockey.

National Sports Day 2024: History

India celebrated its first National Sports Day on 29 August 2012. The Sports Day was the birth anniversary of Major Dhyan Chand, who was known as the ‘Hockey Wizard’ and ‘Magician’, who was born on 29 August 1905.

10 interesting facts about hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand

National Sports Day 2024: What it means

The main purpose of National Sports Day is to create awareness about the importance of sports and being physically active in daily life. The Government of India also organizes various programs, events, seminars, etc. to create awareness about the importance of National Sports Day. According to the FIT India website, the day is celebrated to create awareness about the values ​​of sports: discipline, perseverance, sportsmanship and teamwork and to encourage the general public to participate in sports and make it an integral part of their lives while emphasizing the importance of staying healthy.

Major Dhyan Chand

India’s greatest hockey player, Major Dhyan Chand Singh, known as the ‘Hockey Wizard’, was born in Praygraj in present-day Uttar Pradesh on August 29, 1905. After receiving basic education, Dhyan Chand joined the Indian Army in 1922 as a soldier.

Major Dhyan Chand was a true sportsman and he was encouraged to play hockey by Subedar Major Tiwari who was also a sports lover. Dhyan Chand started playing hockey under his guidance.

Due to his outstanding performance in hockey, Dhyan Chand was appointed “Lance Naik” in 1927 and was promoted to Nayak in 1932 and Subedar in 1936. In the same year, he served as the captain of the Indian hockey team. He later became a lieutenant and captain, and was eventually promoted to major.

Performance by Major Dhyan Chand

Major Dhyan Chand was an excellent hockey player. If the ball got stuck in his stick, he could score a goal. That’s why once his stick was broken during a game to check if there was a magnet or something else in the stick.

Dhyan-chand Sports Day

Major Dhyan Chand was a member of the three-time Olympic gold medalist Indian hockey team. At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Dhyan Chand was chosen as the captain of the Indian hockey team.

Major Dhyan Chand scored more than 400 goals in his international career between 1926 and 1948 and nearly 1,000 goals in his entire career.

To pay tribute to such a legendary player, the Indian government decided to designate his birthday in 2012 as National Sports Day.

Prior to this, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Indian government in 1956, India’s third highest civilian honor.

National Sports Day 2024: Quotes, Wishes, Messages, WhatsApp Status, Celebrations and More

National Sports Day Celebrations

National Sports Day is a widely celebrated festival across the country. It is held every year at Rashtrapati Bhavan and the President of India presents the National Sports Awards to outstanding sportsmen of the country.

Under the National Sports Awards, sportsmen and former sportsmen are honoured with awards like the Rajiv Gandhi Award, Arjuna Award and Dronacharya Award. Apart from these honours, the ‘Dhyan Chand Award’ is also given out on this day.

In 1979, after Major Dhyan Chand’s death, the Indian Postal Department paid tribute to him and issued a commemorative stamp. In his memory, the National Stadium in Delhi was renamed the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium, Delhi.

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