India had won every Olympic gold medal in the men’s hockey since 1928. Not only that, they had won every match they had played at the Olympics since that date, scoring 178 goals and conceded just seven. The gold medal was considered, by many, to be theirs for the taking.

It did not need a fortune teller to predict the favourites for gold in the rowing eights. The USA had won the title at the previous eight editions of the Games; it was an event that the Americans placed great importance on, and a ninth consecutive crown was almost regarded as inevitability.

At the previous eight editions of the Games, the men’s team foil had been won by either France or Italy. In fact, the two countries had finished first and second in seven of those eight Games, and they were fully expected to continue their dominance in Rome.