Now that all the plaudits and prizes for India’s stunning performance at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games are almost over, the time has come to retrospect and sustain the hard work put in by Team India.
Rarely has India performed with such grit, determination and valour on the big stage. It is an eye-opener not only for the public but also the officials who run the show.
As a nation, we tend to rest on our laurels without paying attention to ‘what next’. We cannot do that when India is on to something big.
The Tokyo Olympics will be in 2020 which seems a long time away. But the preparations must begin now. The raw material is all there and it should nurtured and made perfect for the world’s biggest sports show.
Here the Big Teams will be in action unlike the CWG and lots of hard work will have to be put even to compete with them. India had traditional done well at the CWG and faired poorly in the Olympics. However, the CWG was an eye-opener in that it revealed where India could concentrate to for the Olympics.
There have been some rare medals at the CWG, particularly in table tennis and badminton. The women’s team performed admirably and went on to win gold. India must concentrate in these disciplines to ensure that their performances are carried over to the Olympics.
That aside, a look at the medals tally will show that that more than half 0f India’s 66 medals came from three disciplines – shooting, wrestling and weightlifting. India has won sporadically in these disciplines at the Olympics but the time has come to make it count.
There is no dearth of talent here but proper training and diet can get them to a better stage.
Another very inspiring development was that Indian women had a wonderful CWG and gave inspiring performances. Treat the women equally as men and promote them big. Mary Kom picked up a Gold at the age of 35, another superb show by the veteran.
Of course, the biggest challenge India will face going into the future will be the whole sports structure in the country.
For instance, the women’s gymnastics team complained that their coaches did not make the cut to the CWG. This is atrocious to the extreme. There is so much of political interference, bias and regionalism that it is the athletes who fall prey to this.
A couple of officials could have been dropped to accommodate the coaches but that would rob them of a free trip to Australia. This factor will never change until we have professionals running sports in the country. This is the time to review sports bodies and get rid of the excess baggage.
Then there is the question of infrastructure. Schools must be made to build grounds before they are sanctioned permission. Those who do not have grounds must be made to hire grounds so that proper facilities are provided to children. The local authorities must also ensure that grounds are available to children, particularly in villages.
We need to look ahead positively, give all help to our sportspersons and above all, nurture the talent. We are a big nation and we need to think big and win more.
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