Hockey player Gundeep Kumar narrates his experience of Seoul Olympics

my story

The 1988 Seoul Olympics will stay close to my heart as I got an opportunity to represent India in the mega event. We did quite well in the league matches and we had to draw a match against England in order to advance into the next round.

We were playing well. The first half ended goalless, but once England got the lead they were unstoppable. Though we reduced the goal margin we could not beat them and the match ended 1-3 in Englands favour.

It was really hurting as we were one of the best teams and India had a good track record in earlier times. It was an emotional exit I did not expect that we would lose after playing so well.

Overall it has been a memorable experience. I not only played there but I got to meet bigger stars whom we used to watch on TV. I met Ben Johnson and tennis star Gabriela Sabatini, it was simply superb especially meeting Sabatini we talked about tennis and other things too.

We met our hockey competitors and had dinner together. I never expected that I would get to meet so many athletes and legends too.

Olympic is a big event and every athlete dreams of representing their country in the mega event. I am fortunate to have represented India. When I first stepped on to the turf to play for my country it was matter of pride and an emotional moment for us. I will never forget that memorable day when I was picked by the selectors. It came as a surprise to me when they announced my name for the mega event.
—As told to Taus Rizvi