From a Kerala village to Olympic immortality, the man who turned India’s goalpost into a fortress
August in India is more than just a date on the calendar — it is the season when the nation reflects on the victories that have shaped its spirit. Not only on battlefields or in assemblies but also on pitches and arenas where tricolour dreams have been fought for, sometimes against odds that seemed insurmountable.
Among those memories now etched in history is the saga of PR Sreejesh, a nation’s hero, who stood as an unyielding wall between defeat and glory, guarding India’s hockey dreams with unmatched resolve.
This pursuit led the Indian men's hockey team to the 2024 Paris Olympics, where they sought not only a medal but also confirmation that their Tokyo 2020 success was no fluke.
Nine matches later, they had won seven, drawn one, and lost only one — securing their second consecutive Olympic bronze with a 2-1 victory over Spain. It was a feat not achieved since 1972, with a 36-year-old from Kizhakkambalam at its core, whose saves were worth their weight in bronze.
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The final's tension peaked as India fell behind in the second quarter to a Spanish penalty stroke. The match turned with Harmanpreet Singh's rapid goals in the 30th and 33rd minutes—a defining shift—but the game’s climax was Sreejesh’s crucial saves, which protected India's slender lead as Spain besieged the goal in the dying moments.
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For Sreejesh, reaching Paris was not just arriving at a tournament but approaching the final chapter in an 18-year career that has seen almost everything — from the heartbreak of being dropped to the ecstasy of standing on the Olympic podium.
His CV resembles a treasure chest: bronze medals at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, gold at the 2022 Asian Games and 2014 edition, silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and titles at the Asian Champions Trophy and FIH Men's Series Finals.
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Individually, he has been crowned FIH Goalkeeper of the Year twice (2021, 2022), received the Padma Shri (2017), the Khel Ratna (2021), and was even named World Games Athlete of the Year in 2021 — the first Indian to earn that honour.
That journey began far from Paris. Born in 1988 into a farming family, Sreejesh was more interested in sprinting, long jump, and volleyball than hockey until a coach at GV Raja Sports School handed him a pair of goalkeeper pads at the age of 12. The transformation was gradual but steady. By 2004, he was part of the Indian junior team, and by 2006, he made his senior debut against PAK at the South Asian Games. These formative years predated his later Olympic triumphs.
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Yet the path was not easy. Those early years were marred by injuries and time spent on the bench. Where some would have given up, Sreejesh persevered — turning setbacks into practice, and practice into match-winning saves.
These qualities proved crucial when his defining moment arrived at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. There, he shut out Germany in the dying seconds to end India's 41-year medal drought in men's hockey. It was then that his role as more than just a goalkeeper became clear — he was the team's conscience, its voice of calm when pressure threatened to unravel younger teammates.
Credit: Indian Express
His final act played out in Paris 2024 after playing 336 matches for India. As the final whistle blew, the entire Indian squad bowed to him in unison — a gesture reserved not just for a teammate, but for a guardian who had defended a dream for 18 years. Hours later, he announced his retirement, not with sorrow but with the quiet pride of a man who knew he had left nothing undone.
