India at Tokyo 2020: A Roadmap

thebeautifulgamethebeautifulgame Durgapur,India29574 Points

With the curtains coming down on the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, it’s time to look back at the performance of India over the past two weeks or so. To put it baldly, India finished 67th in the medal tally wining one silver and one bronze medal. Quite a huge disappointment for a country with a population of around 1.3 billion people! After all the initial hype and hoopla about sending the largest ever delegation and the anticipatory fizz about the nation bettering its last Olympic record (its best ever) of six medals had died down, it was soon evident that our performance would be pretty underwhelming to say the least. Only a handful of individuals fought to the very end for a podium finish and if it were not for the talented and lion-hearted Sakshi Malik and P.V. Sindhu who put up a bravura performance to finish with a bronze and a silver medal respectively, we would be returning home empty-handed. Other stellar performances for India include Dipa Karmakar (especially her Produnova vault that so adored her to all Indians) who missed the bronze medal by a whisker in the Artistic Gymnastics category, Abhinav Bindra who finished fourth in his individual 10 meter air rifle event, Kidambi Srikanth who went down fighting to Li Dan in the quarter finals of the men’s badminton, Lalita Babar who finished 10th in the finals of the Women’s 3000 metre steeplechase and the eighteen year-old youngster, Aditi Ashok, who came up with a tremendous show in the women’s individual golf event.

So, what went wrong? Already, the knives have begun to be sharpened, the blame is being passed and mud-slinging is at an all-time low. Pundits have been commenting enthusiastically in the media about what should have been done to avoid the debacle. But it is more a time for introspection and action. Do we, as a nation which spends $0.005 per head on sports each day against $0.30 for the U.S.A., deserve better? Indians religiously follow cricket throughout the year but apart from that, they hardly seem interested in other sports and more importantly, are quite content in letting their children settle for cushy jobs rather than allowing them to go through the grind and rigour that is needed to achieve success in sports at the international level. Should sports be introduced in the school curriculum? Should there be more private investment of sports in the country? Should the government play a more pro-active role in spreading awareness regarding sports in the country? Watch this space to find out more as IFN experts seek a solution to this malaise and chalk out a roadmap for the next Olympics to be held in Totyo, 2020.

munna219777AshleshnamewtheldCarbon_14NagendraBadfootydipreddevil87kartik91Samyajitand 1 other.
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Comments

  • usaindiausaindia 1671 Points
    @ ashlesh
    we are waiting for a results :D
  • usaindiausaindia 1671 Points
    olympicgold quest  team introspection

    1) 21 athletes supported by OGQ participated at the Rio 2016 olympics across 6 sports
    2) PV Sindhu won the silver medal in Badminton to make the entire nation proud
    3) Jitu Rai came to the final of the 10 m air pistol, gurpreet singh came 7th in 25 m rpf
    4) Women's archery team lost in quarters of the team event
    5) Overall, as OGQ we feel that our efforts to help the athletes were not good enough and we need to introspect deeply
    6) We will analyse performances at rio, learn and improve. Hope to come back stonger
    7) We congratulate Sakshi for her bronze medal, Abhinav, Rohan-Sania, Dipa, Lalita, The Indian Hockey Team, Srikanth and Mairaj for their excellent performances
    8) We are proud of all our athletes who competed at the Rio Olympics.
    9) We are very open to feedback, suggestions and constructive criticism.
    10) Thank you to all the wonderful fans of Indian sport. Keep supporting all indian athletes

    https://www.facebook.com/olympicgoldquest
  • munna219777munna219777 28505 Points
    Powerlifiting is not an Olympics Sport.
  • munna219777munna219777 28505 Points
    @Ashlesh ; Powerlifting is not at National Games either. it can be discussed in Other Sports but it is not going to be part of Olympics or Asian or even National Games for a long long time.
  • munna219777munna219777 28505 Points
    weightlifting involves both Snatch and Clean & Jerk. Still they are a different sport.No separate medal is given for Clean & Jerk in Olympics or anywhere.
    No Powerlifter can claim to be adequate enough to compete in weightlifting. We are looking for Olympic sports here.
    I agree with your point on building base but then it is a wrong thread. If someone wants to be a successful weightlifter, go for the real deal-weightlifting.

    http://breakingmuscle.com/olympic-weightlifting/the-scientific-differences-between-weightlifting-and-powerlifting

    https://www.t-nation.com/training/weightlifting-versus-powerlifting



  • thebeautifulgamethebeautifulgame Durgapur,India29574 Points
    Some interesting questions raised by different people about the continuous debacle of Indians at the Olympics at Quora, a few suggestions offered. The question was originally asked in the context of the 2012 Olympics, but the topic is as relevant today
    https://www.quora.com/Why-is-India-so-underrepresented-at-the-Olympics
    On a slightly humorous note, this
    Rahul Raj
    Rahul Raj, IIT KGPian | Electrical UG | Unorthodox | Innovative | Philosopher | Poet | +ve
    122.5k Views · Rahul has 30+ answers and 9 endorsements in India

    There are simple and well known reasons for the debacle of India in the Olympics. Well, you know that Indian society is obsessed with turning their children into doctors and engineers. Every year, around 2.5 million young children go for preparation of medical and engineering exams. And this perpetual cycle continues…

    Here, it is cool to prepare for engineering & medical exams and fail. Whereas it is uncool to excel in sports and dreaming to have a career in sports. Why? Because most people want only three things: money, money and money.

    The day ‘being a sportsperson’ will become as equally acceptable as ‘being a doctor or engineer’ for Indian society, India will win podium finishes in Olympics. And I bet if that day comes, we will be in the top five in the medal tally.
    Read further:
    Let me give you an example. 
    Had Michael Phelps been an Indian, this is the conversation that is most likely to happen between a 16 year old Phelps and a typical Indian uncle-
    Sharma uncle: Phelps! What do you do?
    Phelps: Uncle, I am a professional swimmer.
    Uncle: Well, that’s a good hobby. But what do you do?
    Phelps: I am a competitive swimmer.
    Uncle: Yes, I know. Swimming is good for health also. But what do you do? Like medical or engineering?
    Phelps: (speechless).....
    :)  :) 
     

     
    Badgoalkeeparkarenesudhakar2050reddevil87kartik91mohammed_87hassanarun
  • BrainFallINDIABrainFallINDIA India7105 Points
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced setting up a Task Force to prepare an action plan for the next three Olympic Games- 2020, 2024, 2028.The Prime Minister made the announcement at the meeting of Council of Ministers on Friday, that a Task Force will be set up to prepare a comprehensive action plan for effective participation of Indian sportspersonsin the next three Olympic Games.The Task Force will prepare the overall strategy for sports facilities, training, selectionprocedure and other related matters.The team will comprise of members who are in-house experts as well as those from outside. Prime Minister Modi said that the Task Force will be set up over the next few days. ANI
    Carbon_14shibieratuljgBadSanjeev Biswaskartik91Nagendramunna219777arunDX
  • BadBad 5141 Points
    Finally,a Top level Politician showing interest in Sports other then Cricket.
  • NagendraNagendra Rajahmundry, A.P6450 Points
    Just like us, seems to be politicians got hurt with our Rio performance.... good initiative.... hope they will recruit experts in their team instead of forming the team based on recommendations...
  • BadBad 5141 Points
    Bro(Nagendra),I am eagerly waiting for your in depth analysis.:) 


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