Where are we lacking?
I just cannot fathom that countries like Belarus, Jamaica, Kazhakeistan have more medals than us. These are small countries whose population might be 1/4th of India's yet they manage to bring in more medals than us.
we are ranked 48th in the medal tally and yes if we want we can say look there are more countries below us with no or less medals but the real picture is that if we see ourselves as a major power then we have to see beyond that.
I was thinking why we cannot win more medals than this and why we are able to send just 81 athletes to Olympics so these are some of the reasons I came up with
More emphasis given to academics and discouraging sports
Politics
Lack of ability to spot talent and groom them
lack of self confidence so choke at the big stage
lack of training and encouragement (financial benefits)
for me the major point is the discouragement for pursuing sports. If parents and schools dont encourage kids to take up sports at the grass root level then later on they cannot and will not encourage their future to do the same.
I was seeing a feautre on Kenya and yesterday a kenyan athlete won the 800m and they showed his backgrowund. I was astounded, he is from the masabi tribe and they actually made a track in the farmlands and practice there day and night.
this shows that you dont need world class facilities to train.
One more major issue is not spotting talent and groom them. Its very important to go into every corner and spot talent and bring them on to the spotlight and train them. I mean I was watching the rowing heats and I was thinking that if we go into the nook and corners of Kerala, we could find an athlete who could have performed better and won.
Anyway, so want to know where are we lacking and why are we not able to produce more athletes and most of all win more medals. while I am proud that we won 4 medals, I am realistically dissapointed with our medal count and performance.
