Leslie Claudius Biography 
Leslie Claudius was an Indian field hockey player from Bilaspur of present day Chhattisgarh. He represented India for four Olympics (1948 London, 1952 Helsinki, 1956 Melbourne and 1960 Rome). India won gold medal for first three Olympics and a silver medal in 1960. He also served as the manager of the Indian team in 1978 for the Bangkok Asian Games. One of the legendary players of Indian hockey in its golden period, names of Leslie along with Udham Singh has been mentioned in Guinness Book of World Records for winning the most number of Olympic medals in field hockey. He was awarded Padma Shri in 1971. He died of liver cirrhosis in 2012. He was survived by his wife and three sons.
Claudius was of Anglo-Indian descent. He was born in Bilaspur on 25 March 1927. He schooled at South Eastern Railway English Medium School which is quite famous for producing many Indian sports stars. He was initially interested in Football and as an accomplished player for the Bengal and Nagpur Railway. But his real talent was spotted by Dickie Carr, a former hockey player and Olympian who encouraged Leslie to take hockey as his sport. Dickie also inducted him to Bengal and Nagpur Railway hockey team which reached the finals of Beighton Cup. After that Claudius concentrated on to his hockey career.
He became a member of Indian hockey team in 1948, and served as a member till 1960. During this time he got opportunity to play in all the four Olympics. Claudius enjoys a unique recognition for playing the finals of all these four Olympics. He also finished in the winning side for three of the four finals. His son Robert has also played international hockey games for India.
Published: N/A
Updated: July 09, 2016
