Can India break into the top 10 in Olympics by 2040?

If we stop settling for mediocre, India can surely be a top sporting nation

Anju Bobby George- FOR

If we look at the countries that are winning a good number of Olympic medals, then we will find that it is directly related to their development. There is a direct connection. Slowly we are moving towards becoming a developed country, and that gives me the belief that we can become a top sporting nation.

Most importantly, we need to build a system in our country. For that, first we should analyse and study what’s happening in top sporting nations. It is not that we should blindly follow what the Americans or Europeans are doing. Our bodies are different, our genes are different and our requirements are different. But we could use it to devise our own system. We are competing against the world and there are only three podium finishes. If we want to be in the top, our system should be top-notch first.

For example, if an athlete requires something, then it should be provided. It shouldn’t be that you ask for something and you get it after two months. These hindrances need to be removed. Sports these days is very expensive, and that’s why the system should be supportive and responsive to what an athlete needs. This needs to be done immediately after the Tokyo Olympics get over. Once the system is ready, it can select the future athletes who will win medals for the country.

We also need to improve sports culture in the country. Sports should be a way of life in India like it is in Europe or America. Parents should encourage children to excel in sports and choose it as a career. The fear factor that they have needs to go. Besides the system, the five most important aspects are: sports science, sports medicine, mental conditioning, improving our coaching structure and data analysis.

Sports is all about science, and we need it to be successful at the Olympic level. It helps us to make continuous improvements continuously. We need to develop new equipment related to various sporting disciplines, and research in sports needs to happen in India. For instance, swimmers of many foreign countries, while practising, are using machines in the water that can improve their speed. We are lagging behind, at present. It’s not only about building sports infrastructure, there should be holistic development.

Sports medicine is equally vital. Earlier in India, sports medicine meant some form of doping. That was the talk in India in the early 2000s. But, it is directly related to science. We need to do more research while keeping the Indian body type in mind. Our needs are different and we need to develop things according to our needs. The research should happen in India, that’s the part we need to encourage. Sports universities should also come up. The syllabus in those universities should be updated.

Mental conditioning of athletes is very important. When athletes compete at events like the Olympics, it is a do or die situation. There is a lot of pressure. Some athletes overcome that pressure, some do not. At the Olympics, the stage is so huge that many get overawed. That sudden bout of nervousness, especially when you’re in the heat of action and there is no one to help, affects the performance of many athletes. It is a sudden reaction from the body. That’s why mental conditioning is required and mental health trainers should be associated with elite athletes from the time they graduate to the big stage. After all, we are human beings and sometimes it affects us a lot.

Then we should look to improve our coaching structure. Coaches can create champions. There are many talents, but only a coach can develop a talented athlete into a champion. The coaches should have a good IQ, they need to have knowledge about everything, and they should have a sharp memory too. It is not that anybody can become a coach or any champion athlete can become a coach. We need extra talent in our coaching system. Pure coaching can do wonders; I am the biggest example of that. In India, our athletes are more experienced than our coaches. Athletes are getting exposure but coaches are not getting exposure. The coaches should refresh their knowledge every six months. As science is evolving, so are skills related to coaching. The good coaches will keep themselves up-to-date like a smartphone.

I believe Indian coaches should be there at the grassroots level. Grassroots coaching cannot be done by foreign coaches. We cannot afford top foreign coaches for a long period of time. We have to educate our coaches and take them up. And, also centralise scouting efforts among young children, and then nurture and provide them with proper infrastructure, facilities, equipment.

We shouldn’t aim and settle for mediocre performances, we should always try and be the best. If we do that, there will come a day when we will also be counted among the top sporting nations.

(George, India’s only medallist at the World Athletics Championships, spoke to Hindol Basu)

A nation that is entitled and makes excuses is not one committed to sport
Ayaz Memon- AGAINST

As I write this, the Indian women’s hockey team has played its first-ever semi-finals at the Olympics. The men’s hockey team has won an Olympic medal— after 41 despairing years. Add to this a bronze for P V Sindhu, another for Lovlina Borgohain, a silver for Mirabai Chanu as well as Ravi Dahiya and the mood should be upbeat. However, when you scrutinise India’s Olympics performance not just in the narrow sphere of a week, but a panoramic sweep over decades, things still look bleak.

The country’s Olympic establishment, and sports aficionados reckoned India’s medals would be in double figures this time. One survey had, in fact, predicted 15-17 medals. That target will be missed by a long mile.

For decades, India’s quest at the Olympics has always faced one major hurdle: the massive gap between the nation’s thirst for sporting glory and number of medals won. A solitary individual gold medal, and just over 30 overall including those at Tokyo 2020 (so far), tells its own story. The hard truth is that to become a hugely successful sporting country is not a cakewalk. It is a long and arduous journey.

A nation with a large sense of entitlement — with constant excuse-making on the flip side — is not a nation committed to sport. We want winning results without the hard graft. Totalitarian states can take the rigour of finding champions into infringement of personal rights and are not the best example to emulate, but there are other hugely successful structures too. The American collegiate system, for instance, puts sporting prowess on par with academic achievement. Jamaicans have excellent modules for training and competitions at the school-level to hunt for potential medal winners. We need to have the vision to create such systems, plus the will to make sacrifices at various levels, or we will remain eternal whiners.

Demographics, economy and genetics are seen as strong factors in getting medals. Not unfounded, but these don’t work in silos. Demographics and growing economic might have worked to China’s advantage, but not (so far) to India’s. Economic wealth alone does not guarantee medals either. Jamaica, Kenya and quite a number of other Caribbean and African nations have far more sporting excellence to boast of than oil-rich nations. Or even India since the 1990s.

In early decades, the lament was that while we had the talent, we did not have wherewithal. But that is not the case now. Substantial money has been spent by the government through the Sports Authority of India plus NGOs and foundations, elite athletes have become stars and their financial well-being is well looked after. Yet commensurate podium positions remain elusive. So surely something’s remiss.

Before I am accused of being a cynic, let me say that I am not despondent or disbelieving that we can reach the top 10 in the Olympics in 20 years. There are green shoots of excellence visible, in Beijing, London, even Rio with the miserable results, and certainly in Tokyo 2020.

But green shoots are not a guarantee of becoming fruit-bearing trees unless nurtured well. This is where misgivings crop up. If promise of rich sporting talent has been evident in the Olympics in this millennium — and earlier too — why hasn’t it been realised where medals are concerned?

The premise of this debate is whether India can break through into the top 10 nations in the Olympics by 2040. As a ballpark figure, this translates into 25 medals, plus or minus, a few, with at least 7-8 gold. It’s not impossible, but to reach there some measures are critical.

Sports Federations need to be cleansed of power-hungry officials. Those interested in development of the sport, not self or pelf are needed. They must be made thoroughly accountable for how the money is being spent.

Athletes must be shown consistent appreciation, empathy, encouragement and adequately rewarded. But audit of performances must also be hard-nosed, not namby-pamby.

Prioritise sports most likely to give medals. That’s the easy part and is being done. More onerous is grassroots development. This should be secular in terms of sporting disciplines (e.g. athletics training for all sports) and be easily accessible for the widest number of people. The larger the pyramid base, the more elite athletes will be available at the top.

Top class coaching for juniors. Coaching standards at this level are poor compared to evolved sports nations. This is where most attention is needed, more so in the absence of a strong school/collegiate competitive sports system. Deployment of modern coaching methods, sports medicine, diet, psychology, mental conditioning remains dismal at this level.

Perhaps most critical is unfettered, unrestricted participation of women in sports. Barely 6-7% of girls in the country are active in sport, but in the past 25 years have contributed to more than 40% of medals won. As I write this, the three assured medals at Tokyo have all come from women. It is impossible for India to become a sporting nation if 50% of the population is kept away from sports. The onus is on us: as family, society, community.

(Ayaz Memon is a sports commentator and columnist)