Former woman hockey player Gangotri Bhandari shares her Moscow experience
We stepped into the tournament when the United States decided to pull out. We had not expected to qualify for the Olympics even in our wildest dreams and here we were, ready to get into the heat of things.
Being a last minute qualifier, nobody had really expected much from us. We were nervous but deep inside our hearts we were confident. We had been preparing since 1979 and we knew we could stage a few upsets.
We had gone to Vancouver the previous year for the World Cup. So more than visiting a new country it was the occasion that got to us. Even after we got to Moscow it took a while to settle down!
Our toughest competitors were Korea and Russia. We created a flutter by defeating the Russians. We believed in ourselves and that served us well throughout the event. We were playing so well that most of the Indian contingent, including ourselves, felt we’d be able to bag a medal. Finishing fourth was an achievement in itself. But it was disappointing to miss out on a medal. The Men’s team wiped out a bit of the disappointment by winning the gold though.
