The razzmatazz of the Olympics
ended & a pall of regular gloom descended on the Indian shores with the
same question on everyone’s lips: Why does a country of 1.25 Billion not produce
Olympic Champions? The Chinese media has patronizingly attributed it to lack of
infrastructure, poverty, caste & gender discrimination, undue focus on
cricket, focus on academic excellence alone & lack of information regarding
Olympics in rural areas; perhaps they presume the absence of those very issues as
reasons behind their stupendous success.
That our men failed miserably &
the Ladies - Sindhu & Sakshi - were the saving graces is a fitting rebuke
to an intensely patriarchal society; the lasses had to overcome heavy odds clutching
many a times on their parents support alone to reach the podium. While Sindhu travelled
huge distances daily to reach the Gopichand academy at 4 AM
daily, the latter had to battle patriarchal diatribes in native Haryana against
a woman picking up what was euphemistically referred to as a “Male sport”. Not surprisingly the slogan rending the air now
is “Beti Bachao; Beti Padhao, Beti Khelao”. If the “Power of 49” (a campaign
run by TATA since women form 49% of Indian citizens) is truly unleashed we
would have achieved a remarkable social, economic & political
transformation.
India dominated the hockey field
till the introduction of the astro- turf did it in. The performance in individual
sports though has always been abysmal. After KD Jathav opened the account in
1952 at Helsinki with a bronze medal in wrestling, the nation had to wait for 44
years before Leander Paes won a Tennis bronze in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The
individual medals won by Indians since independence: Helsinki 1952(1); Atlanta
1996(1); Sydney 2000(1); Athens 2004(1), Beijing 2008(3), London 2012(6) & Rio
2016(2). The breakup of the haul : Wrestling(5); Shooting(4); Badminton(2);
Boxing(2); Tennis(1); Weightlifting(1). There are 2 takeaways from these data points:
Economic liberalization has done the country considerable good even in sports
though not to the desired extent; & India should focus on 5 -6 sports where
we seem to have a competitive advantage & increase the medal haul. The size
of the Indian contingent increased from 56 in 2008, 83 in 2012 to 119 in 2016,
despite high qualifying criteria, alludes to the positive fact that while we
haven’t excelled to reach the podium yet, there is a surge in performance.
The vectors to be concentrated for
putting up a better performance in 2020 at Tokyo follow.
Infrastructure: The oft repeated
complaint is the nutrition deficiency amongst our citizenry, lack of infrastructure
& the small sports budget of 1592 crores for FY16-17. While the truism behind such an assertion
cannot be denied, it is pertinent to analyse why countries with lower per
capita incomes have exceeded our performances. Jamaica (11), Ethiopia (8) etc. have won more medals this Olympics than India (2) &
they don’t boast of excellent infrastructure either; lest critics argue that
their performance is a one off, it must be emphasized that Jamaica has consistently
produced excellent sprinters & Ethiopia marathoners. Hence the conclusion that concentrating on
some sports where we have a competitive advantage is a good idea.
India has done well in wrestling,
boxing, shooting, lawn Tennis & badminton & there is no reason why we
could not have won more medals in these categories. We have decent infra in
these sports disciplines.
While infra similar to that in
Western countries or a sports program similar to that in authoritarian &
communist nations is desired, it must grudgingly be admitted that surely India has better infra than the countries like Ethiopia
or Jamaica. That we fail consistently
can, therefore, be attributed to only one fact: the culture where parents want
their Children to become professionals (Engineer/ Doctor/ IAS officer/ MBA
grad) & not necessarily a sports’ pro. That all of us were glued to our seats when
Sindhu was playing indicates that all Indians are necessarily patriotic –
expecting Olympic golds - without taking the risk of pushing our progeny into
the arena of competitive sports; unless that mentality changes, expecting superlative
performances shall remain mere pipedreams.
With the Kabaddi, Football, Hockey,
Badminton etc. leagues’ attracting sponsors,
a citizen who chooses to become a sports pro is assured of a decent career today
– if she is at the top of the game - that rivals the top honchos of the
corporate world. Therefore, there is no reason to prod children towards studies
alone if they show an increased proclivity & proficiency in any game.
The solution is to identify centres of
excellence across the vast geography of India & spur excellence; that can
be done not only through govt. initiatives but also thru a PPP (Public private
partnerships) or private initiatives like the Olympic Gold Quest. Badminton at Hyderabad, Wrestling & Boxing at Haryana are cases in point.
9 athletes from India qualified for walking, but only 6 could be sent because of the slots available; that 9 qualified alludes to the possibility of another sport where India can emerge as a power if plans are put into place.
9 athletes from India qualified for walking, but only 6 could be sent because of the slots available; that 9 qualified alludes to the possibility of another sport where India can emerge as a power if plans are put into place.
Corruption: The Indian Olympic Association appears to be mired in corruption;
Kalmandi’s scalp post the CWG scam is an
example. The situation is no different
in other truant associations; in 2012 the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF was suspended
by the AIBA - the world boxing body on charges of manipulating elections. With
no nationals conducted during the preceding 2 years, no new talent emerged in
this sport despite Vijender’s medal victory in 2008 & Mary Kom’s win in 2012
giving a huge impetus to this sport.
Official Apathy: The attitudes & actions of Indian aficionadas succeed
in bringing disrepute to the Country. The Indian sports Minister Vijay Goel was
on a selfie spree & was warned by the
Olympic organizers of disaccredit ion for rushing into the games village with
his unaccredited entourage. If that was not enough, injuries to the wrestlers
revealed to our surprise that both the members of the medical team accompanying
the contingent were radiologists & not sports’ doctors; one of them
Pawandeep Singh earned the sobriquet of “Dr. Combiflam” for prescribing the
same medicine for all problems. Their
presence at watering holes & not where they were required did not help
matters. Dutee Chand has complained that while she travelled cramped for 36hrs
in economy class effecting performance, the officials cruised in the business
class. Jaisha’s complaint regarding lack of hydration facilities while she was running
her marathon indicate official apathy for she was not informed of the rules by
either the coach or the officials; the job of the wards is to just to
concentrate on their event while coaches/ officials should brief them on the
nitty gritties of strategy &
arrangements.
Doping Controversies: Leaving aside the debate whether Narsing
Yadav was a victim or a villain, it made no sense to push NADA for clearing his
name when it was evident that WADA would stop his advances; this illogical
decision, which appears politically inclined, resulted in a 4 years ban;
perhaps, he would have suffered a 2 year ban otherwise. While the Russian doping fiasco & consequently
a large no of their athletes being disallowed at Rio is well publicised, the
deep rooted doping industry in India is kept under wraps. Indian players & coaches
who were sent to the former Soviet Union learned the tricks which resulted in
Indian players getting consistently disqualified since the 1986 Seoul Olympics.
This needs a thorough investigation & revamp.
Maladministration: There is a discussion on politicians being banned
from manning sports bodies with players running these institutions; these
changes are likely to have popular support but are unlikely to get implemented.
Firstly, consensus on the same shall keep
eluding since politicians across the political spectrum are united in their
resolve not to leave their prized perches. It is also a fact that some
politicians have done yeoman service to certain sports – Madhav Rao Scindia or
NKP Salve for cricket although it is not an Olympic sport – simply for the love
of that sport; on the contrary some players heading sports bodies have been un-inspirational.
Elections to the sports bodies makes the
process essentially political, therefore, insisting on better governance
practices & not necessarily eviction of the political class is a better
solution.
Ego: India is a world power in tennis – in the doubles & mixed
doubles category with Mahesh Bhupathi, Leander Paes & Sania Mirza winning
many a Grand slam; paradoxically though they lose in the Olympics perhaps due
to ego problems galore between the players. The AITF steps in to play a forced
match maker adding to the controversy. Players being allowed to select their own
partners would, perhaps, be a better choice
Conclusion
The story in 2020 would be no different
from the one in 2016 unless preparations start now. It is incumbent on the govt.,
directly or through court directives to ensure that sports associations are
disciplined. Implementation of the recommendations of the Lodha committee
recommendations for the reforms of BCCI – through Cricket is not an Olympic
sport – could start the “signalling”; reforms in the boxing association should
come next with others to follow.
Sports bodies should appoint
national coaches with a mandate to win gold in 2020; performance in the
intervening commonwealth & Asian Games would form part of the obvious appraisal
process. After all haven’t we seen Nobbs doing a brilliant job as the National
Hockey coach?
Olympic glory is not beyond reach though.
