"Play like a team," Kalmadi told them, but this did not seem to have much of an effect - as was evidenced in the scoreline against Argentina.
....In athletics, Saraswati Saha ran well outside her personal best, timing 23.43s against her best of 23.01s. She looked very tight in the last 70 metres and ended fifth in a heat that had six runners.
The Busan Asian Games gold medallist, Saha finished 33 overall and was the first to miss out making the second round. She was clearly out of depth in a field that was far superior. You have to admire the forthrightness and even sense of humor in the face of abject failure, although India's Major Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore won a silver medal at the shooting center in the men's double trap. It's the country's best result EVER for an individual athlete.
Note the despair in this discussion group:
- India's condition as far as sports is concerned(excepting Cricket) is PATHETIC. What is wrong with us Man! Donno if its lack of proper nutrition in the food we eat, lack of encouragment from our parents/society, lack of exposure and interest in different sports, lack of physical strength to withstand training, lack of mental toughness to be winner... really donno what it is! If our boys(and girls) show half the dedication in other different sports apart from cricket i think we wud excell too. other countries look up to Olympic winners as national Icons and we indians dont have any importance for sports!!! I blame myself too and am guilty of whatever i have said above! i hope we encourage our children in sports.
....The govt of India is to blame as they never took sports seriously. Sports is not just an entertainment but it is a way to achieve excellence and pride in the community of nations.Olympics is the biggest event of any kind in this planet where all the countries converge at one place. The eyes of the whole world are at the games village. Those countries who perform well earn instant reputation and recognition among the group of nations. It is the way to show what the people of your country are capable of.
Take the example of China; 50 years back they were nowhere to be seen in the sports arena. But their development and their efforts to become a superpower is reflected not only in their strong economy and military but also in sports where they have recently started dominating. They are on their way to become a super power which they deserve, being the home of 1.3 billion people. India's performance reflect its poverty, slow employment growth, social problems and corruption in all spheres of life as Indian athletes struggle for winning even one bronze with the population of 1 billion people.It just shows the poor state of affairs in India.
Article comments
1 - Bruce Kratofil
Don't forget "Bend it Like Beckham"!
2 - JR
India should lobby to make arguing an Olympic sport. They'd kick ass.
3 - Eric Olsen
Good point Bruce.
"Bend It" may help explain some of the problems of the female athletes, but what about the other half the country?
4 - Bruce Kratofil
Just blame it on the residual evils of living under British colonialism for so long, I guess.
5 - Eric Olsen
hmm, does colonialism make it more or less likely that India would value success in the OLympics?
6 - JR
hmm, does colonialism make it more or less likely that India would value success in the OLympics?
Australia, Canada and South Africa have done well in the Olympics. But in those countries the indigenous cultures were marginalized, unlike India.
7 - Eric Olsen
good point JR, I am inclined to think this is inherent in Indian culture rather than a byproduct of colonialism.
I also think all they would have to do is put their collective mind to it and they would improve quickly, but that decision apparently is yet to be made, for all the hand wringing.
8 - Zelda
1 Billion Population 1 medal!! Great work, the land of atheletes.
9 - Eric Olsen
I think it's a matter of priorities and they have make it more of one if they want to do better
10 - JR
I think they have their priorities straight - they produce plenty of scientists. And they seem to be doing rather better than we are right now at creating high-tech jobs.
Who the hell needs athletes?
11 - Eric Olsen
all work and no play makes Anju a dull boy
12 - JR
That's what music is for, and they've got plenty of that.
What India certainly does not need is the glorification of athletics that creates some of the violent sociopaths we've got in this country. Is this what Anju should to aspire to?
And science is actually work and play. I've met scientists; they are the least dull people in the world.
13 - Eric Olsen
For any number of good reasons including national pride and unity, the well-being of their own athletes, the general physical well-being of the nation, international stature, it is wise and worthwhile to make make a concerted effort to do well in international athletics.
Is there such thing as over-emphasis? Many of the problems you are referring to are specific to American football and to our scholastic and collegiate systems of sport, which basically means football and basketball.
It doesn't make sense to throw out the baby with the bathwater - read above how the Indians are talking about themselves: that is not healthy
14 - David
Eric is ABSOLUTELY right!
Please do not just blame and sneer others, learn from the successful experience from China and start to do it by yourself!
15 - Eric Olsen
thanks David, and it doesn't have to be done with the maniacal intensity of the Chinese - just stating publicly that the country is going to focus more on athletics and creating a budget for training and facilities would be a big step in the right direction. With that volume of people to draw from, a little encouragement and attention from the government could go a long way
16 - Laura Philliposis
Or r they too practical a people? better to get all the jobs from the west than some meaningless medals? I wonder...
17 - An Indian
The discussion is very interesting and as an Indian I know how terrible I feel when I see all these people just obsessed with cricket. I go crazy when I hear negative talk about loosing and stuff.......It is as though an Indian cannot and will not ever win an international athletic event. They can only study and be doctors and engineers and thats all. Even in those fields they do not have any pioneers just followers .......Who study the Western trends and simply copy them. India lost the orginality is once had. The teachings of yoga and the Vedas that the Hindus of India researched and studied are far more advanced than any Western medical development. If so, then, "Why won't they let the world know what they are made off?" This goes back to the very nature of non-agressiona and peace that the founding Hindus believed in. Westerners would call them 'tree huggers' Well I only hope that they change and don't consider sports as false pride and understand that they are a necessity.
18 - kapil1982
Well, let me first introduce myself. I am Software engineer and working for a elite software company in india. From my childhood i was inclined towards sports although i was very good at studies too. Well 'Why indians dont win medals in Olympics and other world level games'? Answer in simple. Parents tell kids to study and not to play because you will become dumb doing so. So the kid will work hard and will become a software engineer making softwares for a US client and will teach his/her child to do the same. Because survival in india is important not some medals. I have seen players commiting suicides in india because of their poverty. Man, scene is gloomy i must say.Every indian wants to make those few rupees/dollars more and will die one day silently. No life of significance...
19 - Sreeraman M.G
India wins it's first individual olympic gold medal at Beijing through Abhinav Bindra in the 10m air rifle category. Way to go India. Perhaps this is the one among the many to come in the future years.
20 - Akhil Sharma
Ok Sreeraman. If you're being serious you should kick yourself in the balls a couple times because that has to be the most pathetic thing I have ever heard, ppl in India are acting like men but not being men, WTF happened to mardanigiri, Fukking shooting air rifles, a bronze in wightlifting, WTF that is pure bullshit. Lets do swimming, basketball, soccer, and you know what about soccer its the cheapest sport, you buy a ball u kick it around, thats it. Just pure bull shit, I was at a pool in a university with a bunch of university kids that were INDIAN and I gave them half a pool lead, and I beat them in a race, and I am not even on a swim team, and not only that I am 15 thats pathetic.
21 - Sreeraman M.G
@AKHIL SHARMA: So what is your point mate!
22 - B S Kumar
Why do we all assume that it is absolutely necessary for every country to prove its prowess at the Olympics? Some countries love their sports, and so does India, but maybe it just isn't important enough for Indians to dedicate their lives to sport. So what? American food is lousy, but we don't have a worldwide cuisine competition to criticize how unimaginative American cooking has always been, do we?
23 - STM
Yes, I know this is an old post, but ... Well, they might not do that well at the Olympics, but geez, they can play cricket a bit.
Eric's probably hit the nail on the head in regard to cricket, at least in relation to boys. Just about every boy over the age of five in India can be found on a street corner every evening pretending to be Shane Warne or Sachin Tendulkar. That's how they hone their cricket skills, by bowling over and over again at a few sticks of wood whenever they have the chance, or belting a tennis ball against a wall a thousand times a day with a makeshift cricket bat.
That might not mean much to Americans, but elsewhere in the English-speaking world it's way bigger than baseball ever will be and is also a genuine international sport.
That's the truth of it ... cricket's a national obsession in India, it's their only true national sport, and they are very, very good at it - and unbelievably passionate competitors and fans.
Excellence at anything else doesn't mean much and really pales in comparison. In India, Test and international limited-over cricket players are gods ... and very well remunerated for earning that honour, not just by Indian standards but anyone's standards.