Find out powerful possibilities of Sports B H A R A T A M

The curtains have drawn to a close. The show of Olympics 2024 is over. The flag bearers of the participant countries had displayed their skills, talent and valour. There were moments of joy, despair and ecstasy. ‘Khel Khatam Hua.’

For those who could not shine as expected it is better luck next time. Some countries were on top some like India were in the bottom half. Compared to 2020-2021 Tokyo Olympics where India had won seven medals including gold, this time it was a setback. It also witnessed a sad story of disqualification of Vinesh Phogat just because she was overweight by 100 gms.

It is time for the athletes, the Sports Authority of India and the Indian Olympic Association to rise above all other considerations and indulge in serious introspection about the overall performance and make a genuine assessment where India slipped, what were the real reasons and come up with an action plan about what needs to be done so that

India could be in the top half in the next Olympics. The first and foremost thing is keep politicians and political parties out of this introspection. They only know how to make noise and use it for narrow political purpose till they get some other issue.

What is required is that one needs to make a clear evaluation of the circumstances under which the athletes competed, the kind of preparation they had, the quality of training that was given to them keeping the standards adopted in other top countries

in mind, assess the performance of athletes and trainers and come up with a real ground report on the shortcomings so that India can reflect sporting superiority on the global stage.

Both the sportspersons, the academies, the trainers, the Indian Olympic Association, the Sports Authority of India, National sports federations should keep one thing in mind. India wants to bid for 2036 Olympics. Hence it should go into fast track and mission mode and gear up for a superb performance and prove its superiority. No excuses will help and it would affect the prestige of the country if we do not succeed in bagging several gold, silver and bronze medals.

There would be no point in the political parties blaming each other if we are still in the bottom half position in 2028 or 2036. The political parties and their leaders whether it be the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha or the leaders of bloc INDIA or the BJP should take necessary decisions to see that the teams start gearing up for the 2036 Olympics and see that the Tiranga flies higher and higher. No amount of sloganeering will help. Only focused and dedicated efforts to train our sportspersons who certainly are second to none should be made. There should be no place for caste or other considerations. There should be no dearth of funds to train them and equip them with necessary skills as per standards prevailing in Japan, China or other top countries.

The Sports Authority of India claimed that they had spent about Rs 470 crore on this Olympics. The question is what was the percentage of this money spent on training. How rigorous was it? How scientific was is it? Where do we stand in terms of facilities compared to Japan or China. What helped our athletes to perform much better in 2020 Tokyo Olympics and why we slipped this time?

The Tiranga in the hands of Har Khiladi would fly high only if a concerted effort to bring a turnaround in the field of sports is made from now itself. India should rock in 2028 Los Angeles and should be on top by 2036.