All good things must end. So has the London Olympics, which has come to a close after a fortnight of action that cast a mesmeric spell on sports lovers worldwide. Michael Phelps on the podium for the one last time, Usain Bolt’s ways of celebrating his triumphs: these are just a few among those countless moments that will live on in our minds forever.
Team India did ‘better’ than ever before. While a few examples of individual brilliance and tenacity hit the headlines, stories of failures became practically insignificant. Many sports commentators continue to remind us that we have eclipsed our previous record of the best ever Indian performance in terms of the number of medals won. Now that the sporting spectacle is over and all our participants have flown back home, we need to ask an honest question. Is doing less badly than earlier synonymous with doing well?
The answer is: it is not. In fact, till the wrestlers won us two medals in the last two days, we had one silver and three bronze medals in our kitty. Sushil Kumar became the first Indian to win two medals in two consecutive Olympics in any individual event, while Yogeshwar Dutt surprised everybody, well, almost everybody, by winning a bronze in his weight category. Those two quick additions helped us get the 55th spot in the final tally. Not great, is it?
What, then, are the appalling disappointments? Nobody expected the hockey team to get a medal, but few believed that it would give rise to so many disheartening memories. After the team sneaked into the list of playing nations, one commentator expressed his happiness at its return from banishment during the opening ceremony. Once the event actually started, what did we see? The team surrendered the ball at crucial moments, missed penalty corners, seemed to have forgotten how to score field goals, and lost matches without putting up a fight. The Indian hockey team, in short, didn’t deserve to be in London.
Archery featured Deepika Kumari, the world number one. After failing to perform in her solo show, Deepika, who had a surprisingly shocking day, lamented that everything was over before she knew it. Yet, that is the archery is all about, which she should know really well by now. The archery team performed badly in general. But then, objectivity didn’t promise a spectacular show from every archer who had boarded the flight.
Male boxers seemed all set to deliver a medal or two, with a few reaching the quarter-finals. A podium finish was a win away, since both the losing semi-finalists get bronze medals in boxing. All of them lost. Table tennis is an event in which Indians had participated for ‘gaining experience’, or so we were told when the players got eliminated without making any impact. Two athletes reached the finals in track and field events, both discus throwers. Their achievement was ‘very significant’; hardly surprising because our track and field track record is nothing short of abysmal.
Till the wrestlers added to the tally, Mary Kom (women’s boxing, fantastic show), Vijay Kumar (shooting, quietly brilliant), Gagan Narang (shooting, lived up to expectations) and Saina Nehwal (badminton, arguably the most gifted woman player after the Chinese stars) picked up medals to give us a little bit of comfort. Little bit, since a few let us down, while most simply weren’t good enough.
To what extent are the administrators responsible for India’s inability to produce a decent number of sportspersons who can make it to the podium at the Olympics? To a great extent, for sure. But somehow, I cannot help thinking that cricket is a major culprit. Obvious temptations being many, anybody with just about any amount of sporting talent wants to pick up a bat or ball and start playing the game. Cricket is a national obsession that’s destroying the possibility of many success stories in other forms of sport.
A metamorphosis is what it is needed. But it cannot happen overnight. As of now, let us salute those who won without saying that Team India’s overall performance merits a certificate of sporting excellence.
