Come 30th August and the Indian battalion at the Olympics will be traversing their way back to the Indian soil. The only silver lining to which our nation hanged on to was provided by Major Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.
A truly notable and astounding performance by the Major and the efforts of the Indian army in training him to mark a spot for himself in the world arena, it makes one think that for our country?s medal tally to progress in the Olympics, should the tedious work of training and goal setting for our athletes, be on the lines as the army has done? Why is it so that a country with a population exceeding one billion, cannot muster up seventy-five athletes in a five years time? Is it that the country cannot bear the infrastructure required for this purpose or is it that the Indian masses are the least interested in achieving the highest honor in the sports field?
A country like Cuba, with not even one tenth of our country?s population or the infrastructure, has regularly in the last three Olympics increasing its medal tally steadily and looks poised to do so in the future. Where are we going wrong then? The trend set by us, in general, is that, if one athlete achieves success in a particular sport or an event, it becomes a rage in the country. It has happened in the case of tennis as well as shooting. So does this mean that success in any sport, by an individual, itself is going to initiate an interest in that particular sport by the masses? Until Major Rathore?s achievement, many of us did not even know that an event like double trap shooting was also there in the Olympics.
Is our ignorance towards the various kinds of events up for competition also a reason for our low medal tally? An aspiring and talented individual in our country, for each sport and event is already there, if the law of averages is to be applied. The only task left is to identify the talent, and then to impart complete and dedicated training for such individuals and by dedication, it implies complete facilities and environment for such future winners to rise to their highest potential without any politics or lackadaisical attitude coming into play.
It?s not that our country?s Olympic committee has not been helpful in regards to giving ample time and funds for the training and development of our athletes, its that the manner in which it is done that has to change. The Indian mindset has to change regarding who is to be in the top ten of the medals tally. A quick glance at our neighboring country, China and its performance till date should make us prod our minds as to what do they do that always keeps them at the apex of the final list. In each event, they have a team representing their country and in some events they even have two teams representing the same sport for which an example is the women?s table tennis final match in which the match was against ?China vs. China?.
They follow the simple ?law of average? that if they enter into all events, they are bound to win something or the other, not that they do it half heartedly, its done with complete nationalism and fervor. Such paradigm has to be taken into account and acted upon. Let?s hope that in the next Olympics, we show the world that we are not behind as we have been till now, things have changed and we shall prove it!!