As the 2024 Olympics concluded on Sunday, Indian fans would likely have conflicting feelings about the performance of the 117-strong contingent in Paris. At these Summer Games, the country had high hopes of securing a first double-digit finish in the medal table, improving upon the best-ever Tokyo 2020 haul of seven medals (one gold, two silver and four bronze).
However, the six medals won in Paris -- one silver and five bronze -- ended up as a downgrade to be the third-best medal haul of the country after London 2012 (six medals - two silver and four bronze).
The final overall standing of 71 in the medal table behind the likes of Cuba (32), Hong Kong (37), Indonesia (39), Saint Lucia (55) and even arch-rivals Pakistan (62) paints a grim picture for a sports-loving population of 1.4 billion. The only consolation India could derive is that we came at touching distance of a medal in four disciplines with 4th place finishes, add to that the loss of a gold or silver due to Vinesh Phogat's heartbreaking disqualification from the 50kg wrestling final.
Contrary to the wave of optimism that the contingent started its pursuit, the end result proved to be disappointing bringing to the fore the often-asked question: Why is it that the most populous country on earth with a teeming young talent pool fares so badly at the sport's biggest stage? Why? While central government spending on sports has increased substantially over the years with the major chunk going to the Khelo India programme, the budget allocation is minuscule as compared to the top sporting nations at the Olympics.
A noticeable fact is that the best-performing countries at the Summer Games are also those which have historically spent the most on their athletes. Another factor is how these nations perceive their performance in sports in correlation to their overall global standing. An obvious example is China, which tied for the best gold medal tally (40 golds) alongside the United States, the overall toppers at the Paris Olympics.
The Chinese run a well-curated sports programme that identifies athletes from the young age of 4-5 years, focusing on sports that can bring them medals. However, this authoritarian conveyor belt of athletes, which eventually become champions across sports, cannot be emulated by most countries, especially India -- where States decide on most aspects of sports promotion and development.
If we aspire for a double-digit target for the LA Games in 2028, a lot needs to change, and it has to start now. India needs to relook at the Olympic stage with a different perspective, rather than merely stretching its imagination of success based on acclaim at the Asian Games. India has a lot of local talent, with athletes mushrooming from remote villages enduring the challenges that come along.
The road to the Olympics is fraught with hard work, consistency, perseverance, sacrifices, blood and sweat. India needs to keep politics and quotas out of the sports arena, provide athletes with the best training the world can offer and target Olympic benchmarks before taking the flight. There is no quick fix to bring about a medal rush in the next Olympics, and there is no point in raising hopes of hosting the games when we cut out such a sorry picture in the sports arena.
