TOKYO — When the final horn sounded, the women in white leaned heavily on their hockey sticks, exhaustion and dejection doubling them over. The Indian miracle machine had finally stopped running.
Around them, the women in black threw down their sticks and embraced. Favored Argentina had advanced in the Olympic field hockey semifinals, defeating India 2-1 and stopping their opponents’ do-or-die winning streak at three matches. After beginning this competition with three lopsided defeats, India had reversed its fortunes by beating Ireland and Japan to sneak into tournament play, then shocked undefeated Australia in the quarterfinals. A team led by women who came from rural poverty, some of whom were discouraged from playing sports, had reached its highest point in history by making the medal round.