Olympic games is the leading sports event for summer and winter sporting events with the most accomplished athletes in the world participating for the coveted Olympic medals, Gold, Silver or Bronze.
Pakistan has acquired this feat three times since the country was established and all three of the gold medals come from the very dominant Pakistani Hockey Team, which in the earlier years seemed to be collecting trophies left and right establishing a dynasty.
Other than the hockey team only two individuals have managed to secure a medal in the games thus far. Let’s have a look at all the medals won by Pakistan in Olympic history.
Melbourne (1956)
Field Hockey – Silver
In 1956 Pakistan saw their first Olympic Medal in field hockey which was a second place silver. After defeating Great Britain in the semi-finals (3-2), Pakistan lost in the final against India (1-0) which would mark the start of a strong hockey rivalry between the two.
Rome (1960)
Field Hockey – Gold
At the Summer Olympic Games of 1960 held in Rome, Pakistan’s Hockey Team topped their group stage with no losses and would go on to beat Germany (2-1) in the Quarter Finals.
The Semi-final saw Pakistan face Spain in a close match that ended with Pakistan winning (1-0).
The finals were possibly their biggest challenge with the most pressure going up against India, a fierce rival who defeated Pakistan 4 years earlier in the Final. Pakistan triumphed with a (1-0) victory, winning their first ever Olympic Gold with more to come.
Welterweight Wrestling (<73kg) Muhammad Bashir – Bronze
Muhammad Bashir would go into the Olympics at the age of 25 after winning his first gold and only medal at the time at the commonwealth games.
The first bout would see him win against Peter Amey (GBR) through fall (or pin), where a person puts their opponent on his back with any part of both shoulders or both shoulder blades of your opponent in contact with the mat for two seconds.
The second bout was a decision win for Bashir over Juan Rolón (ARG) followed by the third round decision loss against Emam Ali Habibi (IRN).
The fourth and fifth round were both wins, over Karl Bruggman (SUI) and Gaetano De Vescovi (ITA) through fall and decision respectively.
Going into the sixth and last round of the competition 3 wrestlers remained, who were from Turkey, Usa and Pakistan. A round robin was used to determine the winner. Ogan (TUR) defeated Bashir, but Douglas (USA) would beat both of them winning the Gold medal which would place Muhammad Bashir in third place for the bronze medal.
Tokyo (1964)
Field Hockey – Silver
Shortly following the first gold, four years later in 1964 Pakistan would see defeat at the hands of India (1-0) in the final, giving Pakistan their second silver medal.
This would be India’s 7th hockey title establishing them as a truly dominant force alongside Pakistan in the world of hockey which brought about their intense rivalry among other things.
Mexico (1968)
Field Hockey – Gold
In the Mexico Olympic Games of 1968 the format was slightly different. Instead of 8 teams qualifying like in 1960 only four teams would qualify for the semi finals with there being only two larger groups.
Pakistan topped its group with no losses qualifying for the semi finals. They would beat Germany in the semifinals (1-0) scoring in extra time to break the tie to then go on to beat Australia in the finals (2-1) with Muhammad Asad Malik Scoring the winner at the 56th minute.
Munich (1972)
Field Hockey – Silver
Pakistan saw victory over their rivals, India (2-0) in the semi finals but, met a strong German team playing at their home ground whom they lost to (1-0).
This win was doused with controversy as the umpires stopped play several times after Michael Krause’s goal gave Germany a 1-0 lead in the 60th minute.
This led to the Pakistani team protesting against the call and wouldn’t face the German flag during the medal ceremony and refused to wear the silver medal. This got the 11 Pakistani players a 2 year ban from the International team.
This is Pakistan’s most recent silver medal at the Olympics.
Montreal (1976)
Field Hockey – Bronze
Although Pakistan topped the group stage with no losses and seemed very strong going into the semis Pakistan suffered a loss against Australia (2-1) and in the third place round won against Netherlands (3-2) who were on the top of their own table to win bronze.
Los Angeles (1984)
Field Hockey – Gold
Pakistan went second in the group stage right behind the United Kingdom, both of whom went undefeated.
Pakistan beat Australia in the semi-finals (1-0) moving to the finals against Germany, which at that point were also a strong contender to win, who were eventually defeated (2-1) to get Pakistan’s most recent Gold Medal in the Olympics.
Seoul (1988)
Middleweight boxing (71-75 kg) Hussain Shah Syed – Bronze
Hussain Shah would enter the 1988 Summer Olympics at the age of 24, going into the tournament with one silver and four gold medals at the 86’ Asian Games, 87’ Asian Championships, 84’ 85’ and 87’ at the South Asian games respectively
In the round of 32 he was matched up against Martin Amarillas (MEX) which he won with a score of 3-2.
Round of 16 set him up against Serge Kabongo (COD) which would be his most dominant win sweeping with a 5-0 victory.
Winning the quarter finals against Zoltán Fuzesy (HUN) (3-2) he’d move into the semi finals where he met his match in Egerton Marcus (CAN) losing 1-4 coming in a tie for third place with Chris Sande (KEN).
Hussain Shah Syed is still the only Pakistani sports person to ever win an individual medal alongside Muhammad Bashir at the Olympics.
Barcelona (1992)
Field Hockey – Bronze
Barcelona 1998 would be almost a repeat of what happened at Montreal 22 years ago.
Pakistan would once again top their table with no losses in the group stage and meet Germany in the semi finals losing (2-1).
Similar to Montreal Pakistan faced Netherlands again for the bronze medal and would win in similar fashion with the same score of 3-2.
Here is the entire list of medals won by Pakistan in Olympics:
| Sport | Team/Individual | Medal | Olympics |
| Men’s Field Hockey | Pakistan Hockey Team | Silver | Melbourne 1956 |
| Men’s Field Hockey | Pakistan Hockey Team | Gold | Rome 1960 |
| Men’s 73kg Wrestling | Mohammad Bashir | Bronze | Rome 1960 |
| Men’s Field Hockey | Pakistan Hockey Team | Silver | Tokyo 1964 |
| Men’s Field Hockey | Pakistan Hockey Team | Gold | Mexico City 1968 |
| Men’s Field Hockey | Pakistan Hockey Team | Silver | Munich 1972 |
| Men’s Field Hockey | Pakistan Hockey Team | Bronze | Montreal 1976 |
| Men’s Field Hockey | Pakistan Hockey Team | Gold | Los Angeles 1984 |
| Men’s Middleweight Boxing | Hussain Shah | Bronze | Seoul 1988 |
| Men’s Field Hockey | Pakistan Hockey Team | Bronze | Barcelona 1992 |
About the Author: Ali Hussain has been following the Formula One world closely for several years now and wants to introduce a larger audience to its glamour.
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Nothing sad about it.
U can waste money on people that don’t play . Don’t expect players to perform at highest level.
Most medalists are selling their medals as we speak . Tell the sports minister to go participate. Lol
When the elites will think that we want to excel in different fields then we will excel but as they just want money there is no end.