Hockey India condoles death of Leslie Claudius

New Delhi: Hockey India condoled the death of the legendary Leslie Walter Claudius who passed away after a prolonged illness in Kolkata on Thursday.

The 85-year-old was among the country’s best known hockey players, having won three Olympic Gold medals in 1948 (London), 1952 (Helsinki) and 1956 (Melbourne). He added silver in 1960 at Tokyo Olympics when he captained the Indian team. The right-half was also the first player ever to earn 100 caps for India.

He is in the Guinness book of World Records along with Udham Singh for having won the most Olympic medals in hockey. Claudius was among the legendary trio of Indian Hockey along with Major Dhyan Chand and Roop Singh.

Hockey India President Mariamma Koshy payed glowing tributes to Leslie Claudius. “We had the good fortune of being able to honour Leslie Claudius along with the other Golden Greats before the Olympic Games earlier this year. His death leaves a void that will be hard to fill,” she said.

By Indian Sports News Network