A flurry of rewards following a medal, none on the way to the top; Will a historic Olympic campaign change the state of sports in India?


A flurry of rewards following a medal, none on the way to the top; Will a historic Olympic campaign change the state of sports in India?

Sharath Kamal, Aditi Ashok, Avinash Sable and Manika Batra

The curtains are down on the Tokyo Olympics, an event that defied numerous odds to give the world hope in these dire times. At the end of 33 sporting events which took place across 17 days, the United States of America topped the medal tally with 39 gold medals and 113 medals in total.

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While India, on the other hand, finished 48th, the Asian country registered its best-ever performance in the history of the event. With a gold, two silver and four bronze medals to its name, India went past the tally of the London Olympics, six. The Indian contingent was expected to return with a historic medal bounty.

While that was not the case, with numerous athletes succumbing to the pressure of the big stage, India managed to inch past their previous best. Neeraj Chopra‘s historic gold medal was clearly the highlight of Tokyo 2020 for the Indian supporters with the hockey teams scripting history making it to the top four, with the men winning the bronze medal.

Rewards rain on medalists

State of sports in India: Neeraj Chopra, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and Ravi Kumar Dahiya Indian Medallists at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Neeraj Chopra, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and Ravi Kumar Dahiya

The medalists of Tokyo 2020 are being showered with love and respect from the whole country. Wishes continue to flood in for the star athletes as the country draws inspiration from the best of the best. Following their impressive performances, state governments and numerous other organisations have come forward to reward the valiant medalists of the Summer Games.

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Neeraj, who won India’s maiden Olympic medal in a track and field event, has been awarded rs 6 crores by the Haryana government while the Punjab administration announced a prize of Rs 2 crores. Manipur government along with the Indian Olympic Committee, Government of India, BCCI, Byjus and many others have decided to honour the lone Indian gold medalist at Tokyo.

Similarly, the likes of Mirabai Chanu, Ravi Dahiya, Bajrang Punia, PV Sindhu, Lovlina Borgohain and the Indian hockey team too have been rewarded by the state governments as well by various organisations. At the same time, the question arises, why does our country wait for a medal to bestow its support on an athlete?

Does the fact that an athlete failed to clinch a medal overshadows the fact that they excelled in its sport at the Olympics, giving their very best on the big stage?

Also Read: When will Paris Olympic Games start? What are the dates for the next Summer Olympics?

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No medal, No Support

Indian 4x400m men's relay team
Indian 4x400m men’s relay team

Barring the seven medal winners, India saw numerous impressive performances across sports. Indian steeplechaser Avinash Sable smashed the national record on his Olympic debut while the Indian men’s 4x400m relay team scripted the Asian record at Tokyo. Yet we see no rewards, no recognition coming their way despite a stupendous showing only because they do not have a medal to show for their performance.

In table tennis, the likes of Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra scripted history as they became the first Indians to make it to the third round at the Olympics. On similar lines, Aditi Ashok, who finished fourth only to miss a medal by a whisker, and Bhavani Devi, who clinched India’s maiden fencing victory at the quadrennial event. Today they find themselves with no rewards barring the wishes and recognition they received from the nation’s keyboard warriors.

The same has been the case with the Indian women’s hockey team who finished fourth in only their third Olympic appearance. While their grit and courage were applauded by one and all, the Women in Blue received nothing but the nation’s consolation on a hard-fought loss in the bronze medal match against Great Britain.

Don’t these valiant performances deserve the reception worthy of medal winners? This puts the sorry state of sports in India at the forefront. It has been an unconscious custom of the country to honour medal winners while tossing aside the ones who put their best of efforts only to fall short of glory. If we are to find ourselves in the top half of the Olympic medal tally more often than not, this culture of honouring the medalists while forgetting the efforts of other impressive performers needs to be banished.

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Also Read: Which country won the most medals at Tokyo Olympics and who finished on top?

AWill Indian’s most successful Olympics change the state of sports in India?

Athletics Representational Image

Compared to the Rio Olympics, India had a much-improved outing in Tokyo but nowhere close to the expectations the nation had. yet we were able to return with our most successful performance in the event and that speaks volumes of potential India as a sporting nation possesses. It is high time we change the way of our system functions and everything will fall in place.

The system in our country is rusty, to say the least, and Tokyo Olympics might just be the catalyst we needed to get it back to shape. Tokyo 2020 showed what gems we possess and it’s time we strengthen our infrastructure from grassroots to filter out the best of talents and groom them for the big stage.

With every passing day, technology is evolving and we need to keep pace with it for sports is nothing but science. Our athletes need to be provided with the best of facilities to enable them to give their best at the Olympics and other international competitions. The road to Tokyo is the perfect example of this. It was the world-class facilities provided to athletes through the TOPS scheme that helped them deliver their best at the Tokyo Games.

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The 32nd Olympic Games has sparked a revolution in the country, both in terms of preparation and performance. And we as a country, a system need to build on it if we are to compete with the global forces. On top of it, India needs to accept sports as a culture encouraging those around them to continue their hustle. Only with the system and public supporting our athletes at every step, we can realise our dream of becoming a giant in the sporting world.

Also read: Tokyo Olympics: Which country won the most number of medals in athletics?