KARACHI: Legendary Olympian Abdul Hamid aka Brigadier Hamidi, who led Pakistan to its maiden gold medal victory at Rome Olympics in 1960, died at the Rawalpindi CMH Hospital on Thursday, sources close to his family said. He was 92.

The deceased is survived by a widow and two sons - Maj Nadeem Hameed and Faheem Hameed. He was also the elder brother of another Olympian Abdul Rasheed Jr.

Hamidi will be laid to rest in his ancestral home town Bannu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday after Asr prayers.

Hamidi, who lived with his family in Chaklala, was hospitalised two days ago after his health deteriorated and he breathed his last on Thursday.

Hamidi had the honour of representing Pakistan at four Olympics – 1948 at London, 1952 at Helsinki, 1956 at Melbourne and 1960 at Rome.

Born on Jan 7, 1927, Hamidi played as inside right and rose to fame when he skippered greenshirts to a solitary goal win over arch rivals India that ended latter’s domination.

Later in his career, Hamidi served on important positions including Director General Army Sports Board, DG National Sports Trust (NST) and DG Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) from where he retired on superannuation.

He also served as secretary of the Pakistan Hockey Federaton (PHF) for sometime after his retirement from armed forces.

“I haven’t seen such a fine captain in my career,” celebrated ex-Olympian Abdul Waheed Khan, who played under Hamidi’s captaincy at Rome, told Dawn.

Recalling his playing days, Waheed said Hamidi was appointed captain of Pakistan hockey team in 1954 and served in that position for six years until Rome Olympics.

Waheed prayed to Allah to bless the departed soul and give strength to the bereaved family to bear the loss.

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2019