Six Billion and One Bronze!

In 2016 when Rio Olympics was just on the verge to start all the media houses and our fellow Indians were gazing towards the Indian contingent at the games. Neither of us had given a damn about them a month ago. I think we Indians just love to do things spontaneously. Our attention shifts from the world of dirty politics to the young sports persons when any prestigious event on a global scale takes place. And I would like to mention that as our attention shifts, our dreams and aspirations from our youngsters skyrockets and flies higher than a jet aircraft. But unfortunately when our team returns with a handful of medals the criticism and flak they are subjected to is ridiculous. They are demoralized, dejected and despondency takes over them.

Critics argue that there are a number of reasons of the underperformance of the participants. But the primary one of them is the intervention of politics and corruption into the sports arena If we observe to majority of the sporting bodies of our nation, they are being controlled and managed by politicians. These politicians due to their desire of money making and greed, ruin the sporting body as well as hundreds of careers alongwith them they are also ruining millions of hopes of the native citizens. This has been responsible for the decline in the performance of our players. The potential of our nation is not harnessed by the academies. We still have a long way to go to ensure that the medals are not elusive for us.

Another fact on which I would like to draw the light is that of the narrow mindset of the guardians and parents of the society. The craze and amazement of IIT as a career option has increased phenomenally. People are now much more inclined towards it. This needs to be revamped, we will have to work on it. Birth of future Michael phleps or next Usain bolt is only impossible when students at acknowledged about there achievements so that their children may also get an idea of what it actually means to raise our flag high in the field and depict our nation as the champion of champions in any event so this mindset needs to be revoked and parents must ensure that their children prefer his / her field of the basis of their interest. Our nation still needs to work a lot on this road to success. I think that the steps taken by some other developed nations are really worth appreciating. Some nations in this world have set up sports academies which are properly equipped, developed, and they are training their young ones from a very tender age.

If we draw the criticism of this field it is just next to innumerable. The steps taken by the present govt of establishing khelo India school gmaes is just a giant leap for our nation and one day sooner or later India is also going to be at the top of tally in medal rankings, that day is not far away when when our nation is growing to win a bunch of medals at any professional meet.

So the picture in the frame is going to change very soonly and our children are also going to make our country as well as the country men.

Sports has certainly swept from hands of a sportsman to politicians. And we know how well they play, and easily they get GOLD INSTEAD organisation for even to add a platinum medal and can guaranty achieving it is a blindfolded attempt for our politicians.

That one bronze was a struggle of our players which is a respectable achievement which should not be criticized.

This clearly shows how far India is behind in sports even though our Indian have got the required capacity to snatch medals. If you look at the scenario today many children with astitute sports talents have been masked by politics and lack of support. Even the top medal winners residing in India has not been given proper support. There are many marykoms, many abinav bindras out there. But yet without Government support.

Surely it is so distressing to hear this news that out of six billion of people we had won only one bronze and gold this olympics! But the main question to be asked that who is stalling the Indian athletes to take the big leap?Is it our own system or not?

I think that firstly our civic bodies or our system is greatly responsible for this situation. We (our system) have no elite coaching plans for emerging players at state or national level. We can take example of a sprinter Seema Antil having best achievement of clinching a gold medal at 2014 Asian Games at Incheon concedes that she didn't get right grooming during her transition years. There are no customised plans for talented athletes, no state-of -the-art facillities, no scientific backup.

Second point is there is lack of job security in this field. This is the very huge problem for the athletes who get mired in into various injuries and got sidelined.

Also there are some recalcitrant athletes who make India shamed. For example a 17 year old javelin thrower Rohit Yadhav failed a dope test at a national youth meet and was stripped of his Asian Youth championship silver last year. List of such athletes is endless.

So there shall be some customised plans for the atheletes at the junior level. Also system should care about the job security assurance and right grooming for the emerging athletes. Also our national level athletes should focus on improving their technique instead of focusing on latest food supplements.

First and for most, the problem that needs to be addressed is the lack of encouragement from the government's side. Incentives must be provided so that the children and youth of the country would be able to take sports as a career. Proper infrastructure should be developed for sports and most importantly, it should also be properly maintained. Economic assistance should be provided to those who cannot afford the huge cost of training. We find there are so many atheletes in our country with great potential but don't have the money to pay for the professional training courses. They are the first ones to whom this economic assistance must go to. Hence, if proper encouragement from the government is made available, the parents would also not be apprehensive about letting their children take a carrer of their choice.

The reason that we are not good in Olympics is that we are nowhere near the USAs of the world in spending on athletes, we spend a good amount of money on cricket we flourish today as a result.

First of all, I want to say that the reason why many Indians fail to win medals is that we need to change our education system. When I was in 5th standard, we had two physical education (PE) periods, but by the time I reached 9th standard, we had only one PE period. This shows that our Indian schools don't prioritize sports. Instead, they focus on extra classes to help students score higher marks. Do any schools conduct extra classes to guide sports students? Suppose a student gets selected for a state-level competition by some luck. In that case, politics often take over, and only those with money can participate at the national or Olympic level. We are missing out on real talent.

Why do countries like the USA and Australia win more medals? It's because they focus equally on sports. In their schools, teachers guide students based on their strengths those good at studies are guided accordingly, and those talented in sports are nurtured. Everyone follows different paths. But here in India, we only follow one path academics. People are often unaware that athletes earn more than many in IT or government jobs.