The Paris Olympics got over on Sunday. India finished in the 70th position with six medals – one silver and five bronzes. This, by any standard, is a poor outcome given that India sent 117 athletes to the Games. Even if we performed a little better and converted the six fourth-places finishes into podium finishes, it wouldn’t have been anything to cheer about. The gold medal is missing—and you never know, if Neeraj Chopra hadn’t managed to throw one legitimate throw, even the silver may have looked elusive; there was red flag at six of these throws. No matter how hoarse we cry about the disqualification of wrestler Vinesh Phogat, the fact remains that she did get disqualified and an opportunity to win at least a silver medal was squandered. India slipped from 48th (in Tokyo Olympics) to 70th place on the medal tally; a fall of at least 10 places is because of the missing gold medal. In the 2020 Games, Indian returned with a haul of seven medals. So, while the 2024 Olympics contingent India’s biggest-ever, the medal tally is incongruous. For a country of 1.4 billion people, a performance like this can be nothing but inadequate—and shameful.
What do we lack?
The stakeholders—federations, Sports Authority of India, Sports Ministry and other non-government organisations—need to get into a huddle to ponder over this question. India as a nation is capable of producing world-class athletes. There is no dearth of talent. What we possibly lack is the capability to showcase our medal winners to inspire a new generation of sportspersons. Like, we have been able to inspire the youth to take up cricket. There is nothing against cricket, but if our frenzy for cricket affects other sports, it sure is a matter of concern. Do we celebrate our Olympians the same way that we do our cricketers? Do other sports get as much funding as cricket does? And, more importantly, do our federations have time for sports? A few days ago, a certain sheet showing state- and Union Territories-wise details of funds released for the development of sports infrastructure under the Khelo India Scheme circulated on X, formerly Twitter. According to this list, out of Rs 2,167 crores released under the scheme, Rs 436 crore went to Uttar Pradesh and another Rs 426 crore went to Gujarat. The list could not be verified to be authentic; it did not specify the year of these allocations. But Deepender Hooda, Congress MP from Haryana, quoted its figures recently to say: “Our country has won 6 medals in this Olympics, out of which 5 medals have been won by players from Haryana. But in the sports budget, Gujarat was given Rs 500 crore and Haryana got only Rs 60 crore.”
Spending on sports infrastructure is one thing, and the role of the sports federation is another. These federations are mostly run by politicians with zilch interest in development of sports. We know how double medallist shooter Manu Bhaker had struggled to get Jaspal Rana as her coach. And, who can forget the spectacle on the streets of Delhi when Delhi Police dragged protesting wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, away from the stir site? Wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik were at the Jantar Mantar to demand arrest of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on the charges of sexual harassment of players. After Vinesh’s tragic 100 grams miss at Paris, pictures of the Delhi Police’s highhandedness circulated on social media and people looked with dismay at how we disparage our medal winners. There were FIRs of sexual harassment against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was also the BJP MP from Kaiserganj in Uttar Pradesh, but the Delhi Police did not arrest him and the BJP procrastinated on taking any action against him. It was only in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections that the party punished him by denying him the ticket but it was a minor punishment because the ticket was given to his son, who won and is now the MP from Kaiserganj.
The Los Angeles Olympics 2028 needs a plan and professionalism. The country needs to focus on a few core sports rather than spread the net too wide. The US, which finished as the top on the medal table, concentrates more on athletics and swimming, the two sports which accounted for 22 of the 40 gold medals it won at the Paris Games. Similarly, China, next on the medal chart, got 23 out of its 40 gold medals from diving, table tennis, shooting and weightlifting. India’s calling could be in shooting, wrestling and boxing, the sports in which the country has had success in the past few Olympics. All this may not be possible in four years; but an earnest beginning has to be made, and it has to be made now. When the sports stakeholders sit down to set the Target LA Olympics, they need to do only thing: identify the champions honestly and listen to them. Everything else will fall in place.
