Olympian failure

As always, a billion Indian medal hopes were dashed at the Olympics. The public reaction — a bipolar swing from optimism to despair — smacked of a sense of déjà vu. The Indian contingent won two medals at Rio — a silver and a bronze — against six medals at the 2012 Olympics in London (two silver and four bronze) and three medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Dismal as these scores undoubtedly are, they actually mask a quiet improvement. India has done well in individual disciplines — gymnastics, shooting badminton, boxing and wrestling — where it did not exist on the world stage before the turn of the century. Equally encouraging is the fact that women are outperforming men. The achievements of Dipa Karmakar and Mary Kom from the strife-torn North East, are a triumph of spirit over adversity. Sakshi Malik’s rise from Haryana, a State with a poor record on women’s rights, is commendable. But for such a populous country, these are small numbers. The absence of world class achievers points to a malaise that is both systemic and social. The popular discourse focuses more on the former than the latter.

There can be no denying that our sports bodies are dens of nepotism, corruption and sexual oppression (a water sports athlete killed herself in Kozhikode last year over sexual abuse). Sports facilities remain inadequate, although infrastructure has improved in recent years. But a major social problem goes unrecognised: the lack of respect for sport, rather play, in urban India. Spaces meant for unregimented play are converted into jogging tracks and expensive coaching camps, largely for cricket. It’s bad enough that most children do not get the space to play and realise their talent. The few who get a chance may not be the best the society can offer. Besides, they go through an overly technical drill, divorced from the actual experience of playing, winning and losing that is central to sport. Not surprisingly, India’s best sportspersons emerge from non-metro regions, where talent and spontaneity get more free play.

Modern sports systems should be about getting the talent-technique mix right. We need to free sport associations of official interference. Corporate sponsors should get into the act, the way they have in cricket. Cricket governance, for all its flaws, is working well for India because it is better at picking talent. We need popular tournaments for other sports at every level. Above all, we need a society that appreciates the worth of playing. Medals shall follow; till then, let’s stop inveighing against our Olympics performance.

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