Leslie Claudius

Leslie Walter Claudius ( born March 25, 1927 in Bilaspur, † December 20, 2012 in Calcutta) was an Indian hockey player. With three Olympic gold medals and an Olympic silver medal Leslie Claudius was with his longtime teammate Udham Singh the most successful hockey player in Olympic history. At the same time, the two players are the most successful Indian Olympians.

Career

Leslie Claudius began as a footballer, he played for the team of the Bengal Nagpur Railways. In 1946, he was a spectator at a hockey tournament in which two teams of Bengal Nagpur Railways were involved. During this tournament, he was asked to step in as a surprise replacement for an injured player. Claudius did his job so well that he remained during the whole tournament in the hockey team. After the tournament, Claudius moved all the way to hockey and was able to improve his technical playing skills in the shortest possible time.

Dhyan Chand, the playmaker of the Indian pre-war team, Claudius discovered for the Indian national team and in 1948 was one of Claudius to the Indian squad for the Olympic Games in London. In the final, the Indian team defeated the British hosts 4-0 and continued the ongoing since 1928 winning streak of the Indian hockey team. Also, 1952 and 1956 was the Indian team successfully with Claudius. This Olympic winning streak crack 1960, when the Indian team lost in the final against Pakistan, after the Indians had in 1958 lost in the final of the Asian Games against Pakistan. After the final defeat in 1960 Claudius ended his active career.

1971 Claudius was honored with the Padma Shri. In the 1980s, he worked for two years as a game observer for the Indian Hockey Federation, gave this office but again, because he could not bring to the customs authorities of Kolkata in line making numerous trips with his professional activities. Claudius was after the end of his professional career working in the Bengali Referees Committee.