Ranganathan Francis was born on March 15, 1920. He was a renowend Indian hockey player who competed in the Summer Olympics held in the year 1948 (London), in the 1952 Summer Olympics (Helsinki), and in the 1956 Summer Olympics (Melbourne).

In these three olympics India won the gold medal. Thus he became the triple gold medalist for India. After Richard Allen of pre-World War era, Ranganathan Francis was the second Indian goalkeeper to play three Olympics. One of the most noteworthy feature of Ranganathan had been his power to function as a third full back whenever the ball in the other side. His stoppings were of the highest quality.