‘I want to see my Indian team at the Olympic podium one day’ – women’s hockey legend

Rani Rampal shares her inspiring journey, overcoming poverty and defying societal expectations, on RT’s Let’s Talk Bharat

Rani Rampal, a renowned Indian hockey player and former captain of the women’s national team, said she dreams of seeing the women’s team on the Olympic podium. In a conversation with Anupam Kher on RT’s Let’s Talk Bharat, Rampal shared her story, highlighting the financial and societal challenges she faced, along with the milestones she achieved.

Her love for hockey was ignited when she was just seven. She would watch girls from a nearby academy play and said she was determined to join them. With the support of her coach, Sardar Baldev Singh, Rampal began playing hockey despite the initial reluctance of her parents. Her coach recognized her talent and worked tirelessly to help her develop her skills.

Rampal said her childhood was marked by poverty and hardship. Her father was a cart puller earning less than 80 rupees ($1) a day, while her mother worked as a housewife and domestic helper. When Rani, who hails from the northern Indian state of Haryana, expressed her desire to play hockey, her parents initially opposed the idea, fearing societal condemnation.

“Not many people encourage girls to play hockey, play sport actually. [But] things have changed a lot. Because girls are doing so much good for this country. Every state you know special in sport if we talk about and But 25 years ago, that was not the case,” she said.

Despite the family’s financial situation, Rampal’s parents eventually encouraged her to pursue her passion. She recalled a moment when her coach gave her a 10-rupee note as a prize for scoring a goal, with a message that read, “future champion.” 

“For me, at that young age, it was like an Olympic medal,” she said. However, she had to part with it, spending it to buy milk for her family when they could not afford it.

Rampal’s big break came when she was 14, representing India in the Olympic qualifier in 2008 in Kazan, Russia, becoming the youngest player to do so. She reminisced about her first foreign trip when she was just 14 and had never been on an airplane.

In 2010, Rampal made her World Cup debut – the youngest to do so for India at age 15 – and scored five of the seven goals India netted in the competition. With Rani as captain, the women’s team reached the quarterfinals of the 2018 World Cup in London and won the silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games. In 2020, she led a young squad to a fourth-place finish at Tokyo 2020, with only a narrow loss to Great Britain keeping Team India from an Olympic bronze medal.

Rampal announced her retirement in October 2024, concluding a 16-year career. Despite the odds, she never gave up on her dreams, she said. When asked what she wants to accomplish as a coach, she said: “I want to see my Indian team at the Olympic podium one day.”