Was it a “Paris Syndrome” for most Indian athletes this time where despite lofty hopes, most of them had to leave with a feeling of being underwhelmed… or for some it was a feeling of getting… So Near, Yet So Far…
From aspirations of hitting the double digits in medals for the first time, it became a heart-breaking journey laden with near-misses by the finest of margins.
India bagged six medals in total at the Paris 2024 Olympics, recording its joint-second best performance in a single edition of the Summer Games.
With one silver and five bronze medals, India finished one medal short of Tokyo 2020 where it bagged one gold, two silver and four bronze. The tally puts India in 71st position in the medal tally among the 84 countries that bagged a medal in the ongoing Games.
To add salt to the “injury”, there were also six painful and agonising fourth-slot finishes, which about 1.4 billion Indians hoped to have seen accomplished.
India’s consolation with fourth-slot endings was also once a source of huge inspiration. Who can forget Milkha Singh’s historic 400m run in the 1960 Rome Olympics or PT Usha, who would miss out on a medal in 400m hurdles only by one hundredth of a second at the 1984 Los Angeles Games and not to forget that at the Tokyo Games, golfer Aditi Ashok finished fourth after seeing her lead vanish on the final day.
However, Indian football icon Sunil Chhetri recently in a podcast said what India needs to take seriously.
“We don't win medals (at the Olympics) despite a population of 1.5 billion” is not factually correct because we are not able to identify and nurture the talent of 1.5 billion people. China, US, Germany, Japan, Australia, Canada -- the ones who do well in the Olympics -- are miles better than us," said Chhetri on the podcast, and the video has gone viral.
“When people say,’talent ki kami nahi hai hamari country mei’ (there is no dearth of talent in our country), it is 100 percent right. A five-year-old kid in Andaman, who was good at football or javelin throw or cricket, he didn't even know. Threw it once or twice and then disappeared, working in a call centre,” Chhetri asserted.
“In identifying the talent and nurturing the talent at the right time and with the right procedure, we are way behind. And I don't care if people want to kill me for this; this is the reality.”
Legendary shuttler, Prakash Padukone said after Lakshya Sen’s defeat, “We cannot remain satisfied just having one player. We need to focus on the next line, maybe even the third line. Like they do in cricket. You have the main team, then the 'A' team, then the under-19 team, under-17 team. So, we need to focus. There is a lot of talent, there is absolutely no doubt but a combined effort is required," he had said.
“We need to focus more on mind training. We don't give enough attention to sports psychology, which is very important. In the Olympics, if you've seen a lot of top players have all lost, not because they were not good technically or physically but because they couldn't handle the pressure.
“Olympics is all about handling pressure, so all the more important that we pay more attention to our mind, do meditation, and do yoga,” he said.
Padukone felt that shooter Manu Bhaker probably could do well because she was not under pressure. “People who are favorites are always under pressure and have not done as well as expected. Most of our medals even in the earlier Olympics have come from people whom we have not expected anything from because there is no pressure.”
India have roped in several foreign coaches and Padukone, who trains PV Sindhu, said it’s time that India brings sports psychologists from abroad. “It’s high time we have foreign sports psychologists also. This is not to take away anything from the Indian sports psychologist. Some of them are good but I think high time you know the players also realise the importance of sports psychology,” he said.
“It cannot be done just three months before the Olympics or if somebody wants to do well in the next Olympics they have to start right now and be at it throughout only then will it make a difference.”
“In Indian sports, what has happened is, when we get a star, there is too much focus on just one player and we don't pay enough attention to the next line of players. That is where the federation needs to focus a little more.”
Meanwhile, we need to act from the takeaways of the Paris Olympics and learn to convert the near chances into reality. Also, private entities must contribute to the nation’s sports building… Just blaming the federation alone will not help, it is time we put together the best professionals together to find a middle path and concentrate on the talent hunt and use our resources justifiably to get results.
After all it’s JO JEETA… WOHI SIKANDAR…
(Writer is senior journalist and former senior Associate Editor, O Heraldo, Goa)
Along past fortnight we saw on-the-field brilliance from Indian athletes, which were complemented by some very memorable quotes.
“Khel khatam nahi hua hai, bohot kuch baaki hai (my game is not over, I have a lot left in me).”
- Neeraj Chopra after winning silver.
“Mother, wrestling has won, I have lost. Please forgive me, your dreams and my courage, everything is broken. I don’t have any more strength now. Goodbye wrestling 2001-2024. I shall be indebted to you all. Forgive (me)”
- Vinesh Phogat
“Hockey is back!”
- Harmanpreet Singh, captain of the Indian men's hockey team