Article on India and the Olympics

[Harshal Chhaya <>]

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Hi,

Fellow nukkad-member, Ravi Menon, had sent this to me while the
list was down last week. Sorry it took me so long to get around
to sending it to the list.

It is also posted on the web site at:
http://www.mumbai-central.com/likhaai/ravi_menon/olympic.html




India and the Olympics
 - Ravi Menon


Every time there is an Olympic Games we are faced with the tragedy of 
finishing a few places off the bottom.

Is this avoidable? And whenever somebody like Harshal expresses some 
optimism on the possibility of another medal the whole list dumps on him.

But how many people really understand how much and what really ails Indian 
sport?

I am NOT an expert nor DO I claim to understand what exactly has gone 
wrong with Indian sport.

I have however had the chance to interact with some of the finest the world 
has had to offer in my capacity as a freelance reporter (not difficult as 
this country has sales of just about 8000 newspapers a day).

One of the major problems with Sport in India is cricket - unfortunately 
sport in India begins and ends with cricket. The sport enjoys sponsorship, 
advertising revenue, a strong following and has grown because of these issues.

Athletics, football and hockey to name a few games have little to no 
sponsors. One if India's greatest footballers in recent times has been 
skipper I M Vijayan.  Vijayan as a child was spotted by a coach in his 
native Thrissur, and possibly the only reason he was allowed to pursue the 
game rather than attend school was the fact that his mother believed he 
would eat at least one meal a day. The lady working as a construction site 
helper could hardly feed another growing child!

With a past like that can you turn out a gold medal prospect?

P T Usha, champion sprinter and a most hospitable lady ran with shoes that 
many athletes with half her reputation would refuse to be seen dead with. 
But then they were "imported" and better than what she could / would have 
been given by the authorities.

Of course official apathy is one of our biggest problems but is that all? 
Unfortunately no.

We cannot aspire to be the leaders of sport in the world unless we top our 
own neighbourhood. Here again sponsorship or the lack of it is to blame. We 
have been champions of Soccer or football in Asia. We won Gold medals a the 
Asian Games, we have won the Meredeka Cup again a tournament for Asian 
nations now defunct I believe.

How many realise that we - India were invited to participate in the very 
first World Cup played in Uruguay?  We were not allowed to participate 
because the Indian squad wanted to play the game like they did in India - 
with bare feet!!

This is undoubtedly one of the most popular games that has 
been killed by sponsorship or rather the lack of it. Nor are the authorities 
blameless, a sitting MP heads the body and I fear that as long as he and his 
cronies run the game, there is little hope.

Hockey 
We were champions of all we surveyed, that changed as soon as a level 
playing field of grass was replaced by Astroturf.  The slow surface of the 
grass field helped us weave circles round our opponents, Astroturf gets 
heated as you run along it and the turf is cooled down by oodles of water 
poured on it. This surface does not permit the style of the game as is 
practised by our stars ad a team that is selected for its talents on grass 
may be an utter flop on the Astroturf. Perhaps if they had left the wonder 
surface inside the Houston AstroDome we still would be winning at Hockey.

Another side comment on Hockey. If we had to pick a Federation leader who 
also had to be a public figure, whom would you as a Nukkadite choose. A civil 
servant who came from the states most prolific players or a former skipper 
of the Hockey team who is also a Member of Parliament?

Well the civil servant won, K P S Gill was chosen over Aslam Sher Khan of 
Bhopal and when an employee of his famed Punjab Police - Pargat Singh 
actually assaulted a rival player during a match in Bombay breaking the 
opponents arm, Mr. Gill really did not take any action disciplinary or 
otherwise, but in actual fact sought successfully to have the suspension 
lifted. Is there much hope for discipline in such circumstances?

Athletics 
This is a game for the geneticists not for us. How many 100 meter 
sprinters since the days of Jesse Owens have been white? Very Very few. The 
Negroid race has dominated this and most other events  that require speed. 
Perhaps running away from their captors who would enslave them helped??

Having said that why do West Africans nor do so well? After all they were 
the ancestors of the American Blacks.  Africa or its decsendants have 
consistently performed well is it because they are amongst the oldest of the 
hominids to inhabit this planet? Who knows it will remain a matter of 
speculation for a long time to come.  There is also in addition to genetics 
the fact that no American  athlete has had to worry about where his next 
meal would come from, well not since the 1968 Black Power Olympics anyway.

I am not suggesting that we remain in awe of these nations and their 
programs.  Far from it. These are but some of the problems that face us and 
its sad that we blame our athletes for non performance.

World Class sportsmen like Stefan Edberg in his prime would wake up every 
morning,  Rain, sun,  sleet or floods and run for two hours as a start of 
his endurance build up. As he said its something nobody forces you to do it 
what you do if you want to stay on top. Well for Edberg it was easy he was 
already a millionaire before he finished with his teens not so many of our 
athletes. Ask Beenamol or P T Usha who worry about the family breakfast as 
she trains and then think if they can afford the four hours of training each 
day.

The lack of discipline and this is generally brought on by the fact that 
they have other problems that dictate their actions and schedules. Unless we 
as a nation or sponsor take care of these problems for them we will have to 
face up to being a second or third rathe nation of athletes and ALL OF US 
ARE TO BLAME.

The Killer Instinct
Yes as much as we claim that its not required we will 
have to face up to the fact that nice guys finish last.  I have my own 
personal experience of the killer instinct with Indian sportsmen. How many 
people remember Chuni Goswami? Chuni represented Bengal and India at 
football and Bengal at ricket in the Ranji Trophy. My heart was filled with 
joy as I saw Chuni walk out of the Immigration/Customs hall. At last my 
boyhood hero was here in the flesh and blood. As leader of the Indian 
football delegation here to participate in the Independence day of Qatars 
Silver Jubilee soccer tournament. Chuni was hopeful well we will win the top 
spot, this shifted to second and then third. Thankfully we finished third 
whih may have saved him additional embaraassment.. Let me clarify that we 
finished joint third in a field of four nothing to celebrate or write home 
about.

And of course then we have winners like the Paes-Bhupathy duo. They have 
done well and continue to acquit themselves on the worlds tennis arena. But 
success is a nasty thing. Mr. Paes claimed at an improptu press conference 
that he trains abroad because the facilities were better and of course
"even mineral water in India is contaminated".  Does star status allow you to 
rubbish your own country? It is tragic, isnt it?  I never reported that but 
somebody else did and while he refuted the comment, I must say he did say it 
and as much as it may be true there was no need to have said that.

As for those that claim studies is what takes children away from sport, a 
shining example is another resident of Qatar, Vijayraghavan, Arjuna Awardee 
for services to Basketball, star of the TISCO team that played its finest 
basketball in the Ramu Memorial at Indian Gymkhana. Vijay is a senior 
Coroporate accountant with the largets local corporation in Qatar and yes he 
is a Chartered accountant too!

Finally a note about Qatar. A small nation population of 200,000. Boasts of 
the finest in athletics - 100 and 200 meter champions in Asia (Talal Mansoor),
and finest quarter miler in  Asia, Ibrahim Ismail.

The first Gulf nation to win a medal at the games - Mohammed Sulaiman a 
bronze at the Barcelona Games.

Qatar recently made a large investment when they had former Bulgarians now 
naturalised Qatari's represent them at the Sydney Olympics. Mohammed 
Sulaiman, a Somali was also naturalised. Is there something worng in that? 
Well, no. Are Linford Christie, Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis white?

These are but a few thoughts do let me have some feedback. I hate it when 
people blame our athletes for their poor performance.



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