India romped home with a rich medal haul of 15 gold, 24 silver and 30 bronze from the 18th Asian Games at Jakarta, Indonesia. However, there is very little to cheer on this count as we just about managed to go past our medals at the 2010 Asiad Games held at Guangzhou, China.
A medal tally of 15 gold cannot be a reason for celebration for a nation which boosts of a population of over 135 crores. We must bear in mind that India, like always, was represented by a huge 550-plus athletes competing in 36 disciplines. And for all the soul-searching and introspection that follows after disappointing finishes at international events, we still cut out a sorry figure compared to Indonesia which has a population of 26 crores and even Iran with just over 8 crores.
There are, however, bright moments to savour while we try to shrug off the pain caused by our Kabaddi upset and the heartbreak of missing a hockey gold. If surpassing the previous medal tally is an ordinary consolation, it is the scintillating show in track and field events by athletes that stole the thunder and raised new hopes for the country which never had an imprint in this discipline. Indian athletes at this Asiad have defied adversity and resources to come up with world-class performances and be part of sporting folklore in India.
Take Swapna Barman for example. She came from a below poverty line family where her dad was engaged in van-pulling to make a living. Her mother worked as a daily labourer at tea gardens after her dad passed away. At Jakarta, the 21-year-old, who had a perennial problem of ill-fitting shoes with six toes on each feet wrote her own story of grit and determination. She braved the pounding pain of a tooth infection flaring up after a root canal treatment, and with a kinesio tape stuck around her right jaw, created history to become the first Indian heptathlete to win an Asian Games gold.
Hima Das, is a farmer’s daughter with humble beginnings in a remote village in Assam. She comes from a place where there was no running track, but instead a muddy football field to practice. This didn’t stop Hima from running away with gold in the 4x400m relay, where even Vismaya Velluva Koroth, a construction labourer’s daughter was part of the team.
Arpinder Singh, another athlete from Punjab who even mortgaged his family jewellery to train himself, did India proud with a gold in men’s triple jump. How can anyone forget Neeraj Chopra, a Class 9 dropout who had to shift to Panchkula from the dusty lanes of Panipat’s since his village did not have even a playground. Coming from a purely farming background, Neeraj was nourished with flavours of ghee, makkhan, malai and other milk products. His appetite for gold was only evident at the Asian games.
India will remember the 2018 Asian Games not for the medals it added to the tally, but for these brave athletes and several others who have been a source of inspiration to the millions of budding youngsters living in hope of making it big one day. The 2018 Asian Games teaches us lessons we never learnt. It’s not the infrastructure or the money that are prerequisites for sporting excellence. Success stories are created out of valour, grit and determination.
