5 Indian soldiers who have made a name for themselves at the Olympics

3) Honorary Captain Shankar Lakshman Shekhawat [Retired]

Honorary Captain Shankar Lakshman Shekhawat - The most unsung sports hero of independent India

Who is 'The Wall' of Indian sports? Rahul Dravid. Wrong!

Why?

Rahul Dravid is popularly nicknamed 'The Wall'. But he was not originally the one who earned this title. A soldier, who is rather unknown even today, was once the custodian of this title.

Born as Shankar Lakshman in the Shekhawat community, the soldier joined the Indian Army. He was a part of the brass band unit in the Maratha Light Infantry. Initially, Shankar was a part of the Services football team as a goalkeeper. However, he was ultimately chosen as the goalkeeper of the Indian hockey team.

Shankar Lakshman made his debut as the goalkeeper at the Melbourne Olympics. He was instrumental in maintaining a magic clean slate. India scored a whopping 38 goals throughout. But not one rival player could score a goal into the Indian post, thanks to Shankar Lakshman.

However, the same skills could not come to the rescue at Rome Olympics. Once again India faced Pakistan in the finals. Shankar Lakshman was once again the goalkeeper. However, a minor slip caused India both a goal and the gold medal.

It took 4 years and superhuman efforts from Shankar Lakshman to bring back both the gold medal and the lost honor. He was the goalkeeper when India won back their lost honor at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. When Shankar was not selected for the Mexico Olympics in 1968, he called it quits. He died in ignominy in 2005.