Medal Tally

Hello readers

Hope you all are doing great.

"Adolf Hitler tries to rule the world, but Dhyan Chand ruled Adolf hitler."

- The Sunday Herald Dec 1967

It is great to be blogging again after quite a long break.

The Olympics are almost the oldest sporting events in this world which are being carried on from generations together with the same rich culture and best sportsman spirit. It is a venue where skills, guts and tenacity meet.

The Olympians are an inspiration to all of mankind for their dedication perseverance and patience.

Let us now discuss about where India stands in this great global event.

When P.V Sindhu won the silver medal and Sakshi Mallik won the bronze medal in Rio, we are sure that it was a very jubilant moment for the whole Nation.

We all must respect the Olympians who went from India, because we appreciate the callus attitude of the sports authorities towards them.

We took some time in considering one of the most important factors for success i.e., the benefits given to the Olympians. An analysis has been made of the benefits given to an Olympic aspirant in India and in comparison with the benefits given in the US. Few may feel that there has to be no comparisons as it would be unfair since, the US is far ahead of India in many disciplines and we are still in developing front. It is true. This has to be seen with a positive mind-set and only for the benefit of our country in the field of sports.

After reading some of the thoughtful articles about the sports services given to Indians and other countries we got some takeaways.

In India there is a popularity index imbalance towards cricket and other sports which is alarming and unhealthy. No doubt cricket is great game but why should we not think as other games are not as great as cricket?

The Indian Government has set up an institution called the Sports Authority Of India popularly known as SAI, has many schemes like “you are the coach” for veteran Olympians and “come and play scheme” for the children of Got employs children to learn and play at SAI.

These are measures which will help the aspirants to full fill their dreams but at the same time India needs a buff of energy where everyone is so proactive that they should keep the next Olympics in mind and target to win more medals.

There are some horrific incidents that are not good news; like MS Shanti Devi a great Kabaddi player who won national Kabaddi championships in 1976 who served as a captain during the period of 1983- 84 and she also had won a silver medal at the Guwahati National Kabaddi league, now for the shocking part today this great sport person is a vegetable vendor trying to meet her ends. MR. Kashaya Dadasaheb Yadav, he was the first wrestler to win an individual medal at the Olympics, later he joined the Police force as a Sub-Inspector, after his retirement, he was denied of pension by the Government and had a sad demise due to ill-health, even after his demise there was debate going on should the government confer him a Padma award or not? Is it not disrespectful?

These are just some stories which will startle us; there are many truths which we don’t even hear about.

Just take a glance at the US Government benefits given to its Olympians:

All of the following services are included in the figures for direct athlete support:

·         “Athlete performance pool – support training” (i.e. stipends)

·         “Elite Athlete Health Insurance & Other Medical Benefits for Athletes”

·         “Operation Gold – awarding top place finishes”

·         “Tuition assistance to pursue a college degree”

·         And “Special grants not already included above”

Source: usatheltictrust.org

Also find the pie chart of the detailed expensed published by the same website:

Our hockey team used to win unanimously till 1982 after that the graph declined, which also adds to the saddening part.

Predominantly India is a cricket centred country and it is one of the best in the world. We have to appreciate the best of efforts put in by the players to make our tri - coloured flag fly high. At the same time we have to question about the progress of India in other sports. India is failing to buck up in Olympics. It is easy for every Tom Dick and Harry to sit and pass loose comments on India's performance in the Olympics but none have till date understood why the failing is happening. After the failure the immediate next thing we do is to blame. Blame the Government and blame the players for having not done well at the biggest sports extravaganza in the world. Few days later everything is as it is. But in fact, every Indian citizen is to be blamed and has a role to play in the either success or failure in every sport because; it belongs to each and every on. 

We had filed an RTI to find out what were the benefits that were given :

Let's address about the current Govt., (the BJP led NDA Govt.,) that has announced several schemes and revised several policies related to Youth affairs and Sports. This should have given us some more medals. But we are happy and settled for two medals. There has been something which has gone wrong miserably. Are the schemes just for making the papers look glared!

It is for the first time that the participant’s numbers crossed 100 and all were in a hope that medal tally this time would be of double digits. Hopes were shattered. Finally it was just two and not even a double figure. Recently there was an article published in the TOI that a woman marathon runner was not provided with water or any other energy drink where, designated stalls were kept by other countries at regular intervals in the event but there was no stall from the Indian side. How could anyone expect to win a medal where provision of basic facilities failed? What were the officials doing that is the question that needs to be asked seriously?

It's actually very strange in India where, after the Olympics the winners were received back home with all the due respects. Why can't they be provided with best of the facilities prior and during the course of the event? This may lead to a sort of "be happy with what you got" state and may not see try for improvement.

Below, are the suggestions we have prescribed to improve the current state of being of sporting culture in our country:

·         There has to be an allocation of separate funds for the purpose of building new state of art sport stadiums in the annual budget. Borrow some of the best models of sports infrastructure around the world (USA, China, Australia…). Creating a separate wing in the sports building (Martial Arts require a different set of needs such as weaponry….. creating a separate wing for only Martial Arts would be helpful and the same follows for other sports).  Identifying and converting poor, non- performing sports stadiums in each and every district of our country into ultra-modern powered stadiums.

·         In Cricket, usually there will be best coaches from other countries for all the   departments of the game. Likewise for other sports, recruitment of coaches from best sporting nations should be in practice. Coaches hailing from India should have some sort of an International experience.

·         Critical analysis of the aftermath of any sporting event (domestic/Intl.…) should be implemented. Analysis to be done on a based on science. It is in fact a vast subject and also a very crucial subject for transforming any nation into a sporting nation. Government should sponsor for those (Coaches/Experts…) who would pursue a course in sports science in a Foreign University.

·         Use of technology in sports would create a massive impact. Every sports complex in the country should be integrated using this. This would save time, money and resources. A separate team should be constituted for this.

·         World-class experts should be deployed on advising about the nutrition diet for the sportsmen. Every so often journals/papers have to be published based on an in-depth research.

·         Selection of a candidate for a sporting event/competition should be only based on merits and not on any other basis such influence and like such. Tap on rural side to get the best sporting talents by providing them top-notch sporting culture. Increase the price amount for any competition that is organised. Frequently organising international events for getting exposure. Most importantly organising every event in a competition should be made compulsory and should be conducted with utmost seriousness.

·         http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelzakkour/2016/04/08/in-china-the-fusion-of-sports-gaming-and-e-commerce-could-become-a-1-trillion-industry/#17b047cf5a94 This is an article about how China is progressing in the field of sports. We also could do some of those that they have only when we slightly shift our focus from the IPL to other sports.

·         There has to be a district wise establishment of SCE to be made mandatory so that proper training would be given to everyone which would reduce the running around. It should also operate as a refreshing unit.

·         Key concerns that are to be addressed where the Government should form a separate Governance Cell under the Ministry of Sports and also under Ministry of Home: Accountability, Developmental and Administrative issues.

·         Sadly, even though, there is a separate subject PE in the schools it has just become merely a subject of pass. After the schooling that particular subject is not touched. A simple solution for this is the change of current system of teaching.

Sports ministry this year gets an allocation of Rs 1592 crore. What is only required is proper utilisation of this allocation for the betterment of sport. Private players have to be roped in for the funds for development of world-class sports complexes.

Ultimately there has to be a strong political will along with the change in the mind-set of the common people is very much required for the betterment of sports. For a country like India with billions of people which is cruising for the world power status will not be a difficult task for it to become a sporting power of the world. Fortunately/unfortunately everything is in our hands..!

To conclude, we feel that it is ‘IMPLEMENTATION’ that is failing horribly. Every effort of the concerned who painstakingly work for the betterment of sports is actually going in vain. We see that there will be no better results if there is no realization in the implementation of the various benefits that are to be given for the improvement of the sportsmen. Addressing the root cause of the problem/issue/failure and implementation of the whole ball of wax is what is required for the progress of a country in all disciplines.  

Thanks a lot for your time

Living with hope.

Harish Murthy and Tejus R.S