Know your Olympics - London Olympics 1948

Karoly Takacs and Leo Pinto - Triumph of spirit over adversity -

Karoly Takacs - Triumph of spirit over Adversity

The London Games are also known for the rise of two champions - Karoly Takacs and Leo Pinto. Both were from different countries. Both played different sports. Yet both had one thing in common - a triumph of spirit over adversity.

Karoly Takacs was a Hungarian pistol shooter. Denied a place at the Berlin Olympics on faulty grounds, he was due to make his mark at the 1940 Olympics. However, an accident destroyed his shooting hand, i.e. the right hand.

Now, most would give up in such circumstances. But not Karoly. He taught himself to shoot with his left hand. He came to the London Olympics and competed in the 25 meter rapid fire pistol event. Not only did he win the gold medal, but came back again in 1952 to defend his title.

Leo Pinto - The reason behind India's golden return to Olympics [Image for Representational Purposes]

However, he was not the only one. Leo Mathildas Pinto, an Indian hockey player, was another such wonder. A 22 year old player, he was all set to join the Indian team as the goalkeeper at the Berlin Olympics.

However, he incurred a concussion beneath the ear at the trials just before the quadrennial event. As a result, he had to wait for 12 whole years to make the journey.

However, when Leo Pinto made his debut, he made it in style. As a free India's first ever goalkeeper, he conceded just one goal in the three matches he played as a goalkeeper before the finals against Britain.

During the finals, an important penalty stroke came up. To everyone's surprise, Leo Pinto removed his pads and smashed the ball into the goal. He is one of the rare few goalkeepers to have achieved this feat till date in field hockey. Now that's some return!