After Sakshi Malik and PV Sindhu earned medals in the Olympics, I've been hearing news of various monetary as well as non monetary rewards that are being conferred upon them by various state govts as well as central govt.
No doubt, no amount can equalise the pride they have brought to India in this year's olympics but Isn't giving rewards to just WINNING athletes fair to the ones who Couldn't ?Ain't they worth any Reward ?
With the Facilities for sportsmen (other than Men cricketers ofcourse) that we witness today in India, Isn't qualifying for olympics itself a Great Achievement for Indian Atheltes ?
Along with giving away "Huge" prices to just Winning Athletes, Shouldn't some amount be "invested" in providing proper training and facilities in every sport too ?
I've seen performances of Many Indian Athletes competing in this year's Olympics at Rio.One can easily observe that Indians don't lack talent:
- PV sindhu won India its first ever Silver medal in Badminton at the mere age of 21.
- Sakshi Malik became the first female wrestler to earn a medal at Olympics.
- The first ever Indian gymnast, Dipa Karmakar, finished 4th in her maiden Olympics, showing the glimpse of potential that lies within her.
- Abhinav Bindra missed a medal with a whisker.
- Srikanth Kidambi showed a world class game in badminton and the potential to be a Medal Winner.
- The Archers like Atanu Das, Bombayala Devi , Dipika Kumari have performend outstandingly well before loosing to pressure to perform good !!
- Lalita Babar finished 10th in the 3000m steeplechase which doesn't sound good as good as a big achievement it is for an Indian Athlete !
- Aditi Ashok, represented India in Golf which is widely considered an European Sport, and was in winning race till the finals !
- Indian Hockey teams, both men and women, achieved respective feats after 36 years !!
- And the exceptional performance came from Manish Singh in 20 Km men's race walk, who finished 13th leaving behind an Olympic Record Holder.
And the list goes on...
What is more interesting is that many of the top performers like "PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Srikanth Kidambi, Dipa Karmakar, Atanu Das, Lalita Babar etc, played in their "Maiden" Olympics.
The thing is why inspite of having talent, we lag behind in Medal Count. Why always athletes from European Counteries amd Countries like China, japan, outperform us ?
It doesn't need an expert to conclude that the top medal winner countries like USA, Great Britain, China ,Russia etc "Invest" in their athletes.
As per the statistics I found on internet, the cost per athlete that Indian govt spends on its Athletes per day is negligible as compared to the cost that these countries spend in their athletes.
As per the statistics I found on internet, the cost per athlete that Indian govt spends on its Athletes per day is negligible as compared to the cost that these countries spend in their athletes.
I read an article in "The Tribune", and they pointed out an observation of the categories of people opting for various sports.
It mentioned that most of our athletes come from poor financial backgrounds. Manish Singh, who finished 13th in the Men's Race walk comes from a family which is facing " critical" financial crisis. (Inspite of it, he performed exceptionally well).
The people of "Elite" classes shy away from sports other than "Cricket". It shows the mentality of our society towards opting sports as career.
It mentioned that most of our athletes come from poor financial backgrounds. Manish Singh, who finished 13th in the Men's Race walk comes from a family which is facing " critical" financial crisis. (Inspite of it, he performed exceptionally well).
The people of "Elite" classes shy away from sports other than "Cricket". It shows the mentality of our society towards opting sports as career.
Infact I, as a child, was so much passionate about Basketball (I still am) . Even all the Sports teachers I've met so far have always praised me of playing it well according to my age and experience. There was a time, when my parents asked me of my will to go ahead with Basketball (I'm blessed to have such an open minded parents). That was the day when "Being an Indian" Stopped me from opting a "Sport" (that too Basketball) as career as their is no secured future of a sportsman (Or i must say "sportswoman") here in India and like many other middle class Indians, I also ended up being just " another engineer".
So, its not that India lacks Athletes or Indian Athletes are Inferior to athletes of other countries, its just that they dont get the exposure to facilities and incentives that other countries provide to their athletes.
Had there been such facilities in India, God Knows how many Usian Bolts, Michael Phelps etc India would have produced !!
Had there been such facilities in India, God Knows how many Usian Bolts, Michael Phelps etc India would have produced !!
