India began its London Olympics 2012 Campaign much the same way it always does... a lot of hype around the athletes....grand expectations of a major medal haul and as usual ended with a bust having won not a single gold in the entire tournament, though we came very close twice, I guess.
That we are not good at anything but cricket is common knowledge. But is it really acceptable that a population of over 1.4 billion huff and puff to only 6 medals at the world's greatest sporting stage?! Though we may as well consider it actually to be only 5 medals, Ms Nehwal was lucky enough that her Chinese opponent backed out due to injury. Mary Kom did what she could and managed a bronze... Gagan Narang was a disappointment managing only a bronze. Yogeshwar Dutt was a surprise, winning a silver and if not for dehydration Sushil Kumar would have got us a Gold.
The most obvious reason for such a pathetic show from the outset seems to be the government, lack of infrastructure(direct result of the government) and huge popularity of cricket. Theathletes themselves do not figure in the problem list at all. Krishna Poonia seemed very happy with her 7th place finish, which was no where near the top 3. Nehwal was proud that the chinese retired for that got her a bronze, well she is after all the 4th best in the world. Gagan fulfilled his dream of an Olympic medal and it seems for him "an" Olympic medal was enough. We lost humiliatingly in hockey, did not come close in any of the track events and only Gowda, hailing from Mysore, managed reach finals of a track and field event( Barring Poonia though she is content with being no. 7). Bindra did not, Vijender I guess was worried more about his next dance stint,and the great men of tennis failed as well( Guess Daddy can not win you medals).
We ended the Olympics ranked 55th among the 67 countries that participated with countries like Kenya, Uganda, Brasil, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Ethiopia and more ranked above us. Surely if infrastructure is the main criterion then these countries should have done as badly or worse than us? So it can not be infrastructure.
Maybe Government apathy towards the athlete is the reason? But then many of the countries ranked above us are in political deplorable states. Guess even government is not the reason.
So is public support the reason. When India won its First World Cup in cricket the cricketers did not have enough money to come back to India. Hockey ruled Indian sporting arena then. Crciketers had to market the game but performance is always the best way to market the game. India produced some truly world class cricketers. Vishwanath...Bedi....Dev....Gavaskar....Tendulkar....Dravid....Ganguly...Laxman....Kumble all have excelled in the game of Cricket, the only game in which India meets victory on a regular basis.
So the only way to get into public mindspace is to win and win on a regular basis. With wins comes public support. With public support comes sponsorship, infrastructure etc. So its time we stop patronizing our athletes and make them understand that if they want to be treated like cricketers then they need to win like them. Its not WE who have not failed them...THEY have failed us.
That we are not good at anything but cricket is common knowledge. But is it really acceptable that a population of over 1.4 billion huff and puff to only 6 medals at the world's greatest sporting stage?! Though we may as well consider it actually to be only 5 medals, Ms Nehwal was lucky enough that her Chinese opponent backed out due to injury. Mary Kom did what she could and managed a bronze... Gagan Narang was a disappointment managing only a bronze. Yogeshwar Dutt was a surprise, winning a silver and if not for dehydration Sushil Kumar would have got us a Gold.
The most obvious reason for such a pathetic show from the outset seems to be the government, lack of infrastructure(direct result of the government) and huge popularity of cricket. Theathletes themselves do not figure in the problem list at all. Krishna Poonia seemed very happy with her 7th place finish, which was no where near the top 3. Nehwal was proud that the chinese retired for that got her a bronze, well she is after all the 4th best in the world. Gagan fulfilled his dream of an Olympic medal and it seems for him "an" Olympic medal was enough. We lost humiliatingly in hockey, did not come close in any of the track events and only Gowda, hailing from Mysore, managed reach finals of a track and field event( Barring Poonia though she is content with being no. 7). Bindra did not, Vijender I guess was worried more about his next dance stint,and the great men of tennis failed as well( Guess Daddy can not win you medals).
We ended the Olympics ranked 55th among the 67 countries that participated with countries like Kenya, Uganda, Brasil, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Ethiopia and more ranked above us. Surely if infrastructure is the main criterion then these countries should have done as badly or worse than us? So it can not be infrastructure.
Maybe Government apathy towards the athlete is the reason? But then many of the countries ranked above us are in political deplorable states. Guess even government is not the reason.
So is public support the reason. When India won its First World Cup in cricket the cricketers did not have enough money to come back to India. Hockey ruled Indian sporting arena then. Crciketers had to market the game but performance is always the best way to market the game. India produced some truly world class cricketers. Vishwanath...Bedi....Dev....Gavaskar....Tendulkar....Dravid....Ganguly...Laxman....Kumble all have excelled in the game of Cricket, the only game in which India meets victory on a regular basis.
So the only way to get into public mindspace is to win and win on a regular basis. With wins comes public support. With public support comes sponsorship, infrastructure etc. So its time we stop patronizing our athletes and make them understand that if they want to be treated like cricketers then they need to win like them. Its not WE who have not failed them...THEY have failed us.
