The elusive gold

Watching the try outs of the athletes for Olympics 2008 the past few days. A Question popped into my mind. Every time I watch Olympics I have the same question in mind. With a nation as big as our India, why is it we are not able to come up with more winners???
Apart from Hockey and a few fine performances in athletics, India's record in the Olympics is really dismal for a country having a population of over a billion people.
Are we as a nation still trying to search and reach the elusive Gold? How is that it has eluded us all these years? Is it not possible to gear towards the competition that comes only once in 4 years.?
Are we to blame the Government for not providing infrastructure.? Or to blame the private companies for not enough sponsorship? Or to blame ourselves for not giving adequate importance to Sports on the whole?
How many families do you know would give prominence for achievements in sports and thereby shift the focus from Studies? I don’t know of any Indian family who would do so.. but I am sure there should be many out there.
Is it a worthy enough dream to pursue? Or maybe we do not have adequate role models to show the avenue of sportsmanship. But that’s not true since we do sport a world class Cricket team and maybe more. Like Chess. Do share your thoughts..
So again I am back to my original thoughts and question as to why we have not made it to podium to hear our National Anthem play while the medal is awarded to our very own golden athlete!

Dear AC,

Many sportsmen from our country have expressed that our infrastructure is not enough.Government has to set up an infrastructure wich helps them to workout a lot.Which is not that easy as we say.There are not only financial constraints behind it.There are many dependancies beind it.Not only the sports dept but also the rest team up for a good result.

Now a days a lot many developments are made in cricket field.Might be the focus is only on very few games in India? Encouragement for a sport must be given from school level i suppose. Just providing 1 hr in a week named as P.T. hour is not enough.

And regarding focus on studies rather than sports is quite common. Only parents who have succeded in sports or who wants their kid to shine enforce the importance of it. many just treat sports as a hobby or recreation part in their life.For many sports is just watching cricket or hockey in TV.

This is what i felt.Letz see how others come up with.

AC,

The Government does spend money for sports. But it may not be reaching the right people and may not be flowing through the right channels. There are Boards and Committees for every sport and they are muddled in politics, because these boards are controlled by politicians. Cricket is the only sport that gets a lot of attention. Parents also fear that their children may not be able to make a good career of sports. Sports is in a sad state in India.

Dear Chitra,

Too much political interference I feel.Lopsided players are chosen, and thisis what u will get.There is penty of talent, but no gears and no money, so talented sportsmen do other jobs to fill their belly.

Regards.kamal

Originally Posted by Cindhuja

Dear AC,

Many sportsmen from our country have expressed that our infrastructure is not enough.Government has to set up an infrastructure wich helps them to workout a lot.Which is not that easy as we say.There are not only financial constraints behind it.There are many dependancies beind it.Not only the sports dept but also the rest team up for a good result.

Now a days a lot many developments are made in cricket field.Might be the focus is only on very few games in India? Encouragement for a sport must be given from school level i suppose. Just providing 1 hr in a week named as P.T. hour is not enough.

And regarding focus on studies rather than sports is quite common. Only parents who have succeded in sports or who wants their kid to shine enforce the importance of it. many just treat sports as a hobby or recreation part in their life.For many sports is just watching cricket or hockey in TV.

This is what i felt.Letz see how others come up with.

Over the years India has won bronzes for wrestling, shooting, tennis and weightlifting.
If as we might think adequate infrastructure is a problem, then how has it been possible for a very few to prove this wrong.
As in all sports commitment is the key along with hard work etc.
Yes we could do with more infrastructure and support from Government. Thanks for the comment Cindhuja.

Originally Posted by nivedi

AC,

The Government does spend money for sports. But it may not be reaching the right people and may not be flowing through the right channels. There are Boards and Committees for every sport and they are muddled in politics, because these boards are controlled by politicians. Cricket is the only sport that gets a lot of attention. Parents also fear that their children may not be able to make a good career of sports. Sports is in a sad state in India.

Dear Nivedi
When countries like CHina can gear itself towards competition and perfection over a span of many years, do we still hold onto that the Government and politics are to be blamed!
Even if its true, it is only for a lesser extent. That alone does not constitute for the whole problem.
Thanks for stepping in here:)

Originally Posted by Kamalji

Dear Chitra,

Too much political interference I feel.Lopsided players are chosen, and thisis what u will get.There is penty of talent, but no gears and no money, so talented sportsmen do other jobs to fill their belly.

Regards.kamal

Kamal
You have given an interesting perspective.. It is true one needs to make a living and so to fill a belly takes any job.
In many of the sport categories the persons competing are in their young 20's or so. Now not all sport categories need high infrastructure too. Even from what I have seen in our country bigger cities do have good facilities like swimming pools and tracks and such.
Big MNC's can also sponsor worthy athletes. Its not always have to be the governement.
So why do they not step up to so.. why do not young tech people who make a lottt of money pool resources and help worthy entrants.
Well just a thought!

Hi AC..very true..Its sad to see Indias not shining in the olympics.I have read a lot about "how aspiring sportsmen/women suffer due to poverty and lack of back up"...long back in tamil magazine kumudam..I am a table tennis player and have represented in state level during school days.My college did not have any facility for sports...There ended my sportsmanship..

Dear AC

Sports for Indians ofcourse is secondary from what i have seen. Why talk about others, even in my own case my parents always wanted me to study well and come up in life and really gave picayune importance to sports. Well i did'nt turn up to be a good sport. Having moved to US, i am amazed by the importance given to sports. Also in the current days there are several things to contribute to not brining up good athelets. The first thing being the IT industry. Well the IT companies in India are overwhelmed by the projects they are receiving from all round the world. They provide cafeterias, daycare's and what not inside the office premisis so that they dont have to let go their employees out of the building. My friends in India on an averaghe work for about 12-15hrs a day and that has become their default work timings these days. So i guess there is no time to even workout or practice. As you rightly said MNC's and government should promote the importance of sports and make our country popular in such activities.

Good thought provoking post AC.

regards
Vidya

Originally Posted by SupriyaDinesh

Hi AC..very true..Its sad to see Indias not shining in the olympics.I have read a lot about "how aspiring sportsmen/women suffer due to poverty and lack of back up"...long back in tamil magazine kumudam..I am a table tennis player and have represented in state level during school days.My college did not have any facility for sports...There ended my sportsmanship..

Dear Supriya
Thanks for stepping here.. I always have loved sports and played so many during school and in college competed in state too.. not that I was very good but just enjoyed playing sports. So its sad to me that we do not have quality winners in the Olympics. Need not be a gold only.. But I feel we can do so much better.
Why always blame on the infrastructure and government.. not true. I too played almost more than 25 years ago. There were facilities even back then. I just cannot accept these lame excuses.. hence this discussion. No one has yet come up with any convincing points or arguments though...