What a gold medal can bring
Thursday, August 14, 2008
GOLDFINGER, the Man with the Golden Gun, New Gold Standard - shooter Abhinav Bindra made front-page headlines in every Indian newspaper on Tuesday after winning his country's first-ever individual Olympic gold medal the previous day.
The accolades poured in as did awards worth about 2 million rupees ($66,500 ) as Indian state governments and sporting bodies vied with each other to reward the 24-year-old, who overcame back problems and trained largely on his own to win the highest achievement any sportsman can dream of.
But Bindra's win once again raised the question, as eternal as India's elusive search for gold, why is it that a nation of over one billion people has only 17 Olympic medals to its credit over the years?
Can Bindra's historic achievement change the focus, funding and infrastructure of sports in this cricket-mad country? Bindra, for one, certainly hopes it will.
"I would like to reiterate that everyone who represents India in the Olympic Games has put in years of toil and sweat. I ask the Indian people to support our athletes more.
"It is fine to celebrate our achievements but it is just as important to keep up the backing when we are not on top of our game," Bindra wrote in his blog a day after winning.
Most of India's problems in the field of sports are rooted in age-old drawbacks that are recounted each time an Olympic squad returns from a dismal performance with the refrain: It is important to compete and not to win.
Poor infrastructure and lack of funding top the list along with corruption and politicisation among sport associations.
Take, for instance, the Tughlakabad shooting centre in the national capital. Cited as the prime training ground for shooters, its equipment has not been upgraded since 1982 and is falling apart.
A preparatory camp for shooters had to be cut short because of shortage of ammunition due to lack of funds and India's import rules.
Bindra never trains at this centre. It is doubtful if he could have won if he did.
The young man has a well-equipped, private air-conditioned shooting range in his father's farmhouse in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh.
Bindra's well-heeled businessman father has contributed immensely to his son's realising his dream. Bindra trains in Germany under Swiss coach Gaby Buehlmann.
Bindra is luckier than many sportsmen who come from small Indian towns and villages and cannot afford either ammunition or equipment.
Rajavendra Singh Rathore, India's sole medal winner at the 2004 Athens Olympics - he won silver in the double trap shooting event - is in the Indian Army which has helped him through his training.
India's recent successes in shooting caught the attention of the government which gave grants to a few individuals, including Bindra and Rathore, and sent teams to international competitions. There has been a trickle of corporate sponsorship as well, which sportsmen now hope will increase substantially.
"I wish more private initiatives come up with corporate support apart from the backing of government," Bindra wrote in his blog. "It is important for India to do better at Olympic sport as these are the true measure of a nation's sporting depth."
If Bindra was hinting at the obsession the country has with cricket, others like former Olympic hockey player Gurbux Singh did not mince words.
"Let us not forget that Abhinav has won a gold medal in the Games where 204 countries are participating. It's not a tournament in which 8-10 nations take part," he was quoted as saying by IANS news agency.
"Let us hope the country now provides more training and foreign exposure to its athletes so that they are better prepared for the forthcoming Olympics."
"Cricket rules the roost in India but now the youngsters have a role model who plays some other sport. Its great for us and augurs well for us," said Indian Olympic Association (IOA) chief Suresh Kalmadi.
Bindra believes that given the talent and expanse of its people, India can be a world-class sporting power. "What we need are precise systems," he said adding that he would do his bit in grooming generation next. "I would like to appeal to each Indian to also do their bit in prodding us out of sporting complacency," he said.
The first who need to be prodded are the sports officials, who treat their disciplines as personal fiefdoms, with tales of siphoning funds and corruption and partiality in selection processes doing the rounds ever so often.
The most recent tale is that of Monika Devi, the weightlifter who was picked for the Olympic squad, dropped on doping charges days before the Beijing Games, then cleared. The IOA said it was too late for her to participate. But Bindra has brought in with his win another essential ingredient for transforming Indian sports - the feeling that we can win. "He will be an inspiration for all athletes," federal Sports Minister MS Gill said.
The young shooter, who heads his own computer games company is sure to return to a hero's welcome on Thursday. His mother, Babli Bindra, said tongue-in-cheek that she has a lot of work ahead - as the Olympic gold had made her son the country's most eligible bachelor.
DPA
The accolades poured in as did awards worth about 2 million rupees ($66,500 ) as Indian state governments and sporting bodies vied with each other to reward the 24-year-old, who overcame back problems and trained largely on his own to win the highest achievement any sportsman can dream of.
But Bindra's win once again raised the question, as eternal as India's elusive search for gold, why is it that a nation of over one billion people has only 17 Olympic medals to its credit over the years?
Can Bindra's historic achievement change the focus, funding and infrastructure of sports in this cricket-mad country? Bindra, for one, certainly hopes it will.
"I would like to reiterate that everyone who represents India in the Olympic Games has put in years of toil and sweat. I ask the Indian people to support our athletes more.
"It is fine to celebrate our achievements but it is just as important to keep up the backing when we are not on top of our game," Bindra wrote in his blog a day after winning.
Most of India's problems in the field of sports are rooted in age-old drawbacks that are recounted each time an Olympic squad returns from a dismal performance with the refrain: It is important to compete and not to win.
Poor infrastructure and lack of funding top the list along with corruption and politicisation among sport associations.
Take, for instance, the Tughlakabad shooting centre in the national capital. Cited as the prime training ground for shooters, its equipment has not been upgraded since 1982 and is falling apart.
A preparatory camp for shooters had to be cut short because of shortage of ammunition due to lack of funds and India's import rules.
Bindra never trains at this centre. It is doubtful if he could have won if he did.
The young man has a well-equipped, private air-conditioned shooting range in his father's farmhouse in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh.
Bindra's well-heeled businessman father has contributed immensely to his son's realising his dream. Bindra trains in Germany under Swiss coach Gaby Buehlmann.
Bindra is luckier than many sportsmen who come from small Indian towns and villages and cannot afford either ammunition or equipment.
Rajavendra Singh Rathore, India's sole medal winner at the 2004 Athens Olympics - he won silver in the double trap shooting event - is in the Indian Army which has helped him through his training.
India's recent successes in shooting caught the attention of the government which gave grants to a few individuals, including Bindra and Rathore, and sent teams to international competitions. There has been a trickle of corporate sponsorship as well, which sportsmen now hope will increase substantially.
"I wish more private initiatives come up with corporate support apart from the backing of government," Bindra wrote in his blog. "It is important for India to do better at Olympic sport as these are the true measure of a nation's sporting depth."
If Bindra was hinting at the obsession the country has with cricket, others like former Olympic hockey player Gurbux Singh did not mince words.
"Let us not forget that Abhinav has won a gold medal in the Games where 204 countries are participating. It's not a tournament in which 8-10 nations take part," he was quoted as saying by IANS news agency.
"Let us hope the country now provides more training and foreign exposure to its athletes so that they are better prepared for the forthcoming Olympics."
"Cricket rules the roost in India but now the youngsters have a role model who plays some other sport. Its great for us and augurs well for us," said Indian Olympic Association (IOA) chief Suresh Kalmadi.
Bindra believes that given the talent and expanse of its people, India can be a world-class sporting power. "What we need are precise systems," he said adding that he would do his bit in grooming generation next. "I would like to appeal to each Indian to also do their bit in prodding us out of sporting complacency," he said.
The first who need to be prodded are the sports officials, who treat their disciplines as personal fiefdoms, with tales of siphoning funds and corruption and partiality in selection processes doing the rounds ever so often.
The most recent tale is that of Monika Devi, the weightlifter who was picked for the Olympic squad, dropped on doping charges days before the Beijing Games, then cleared. The IOA said it was too late for her to participate. But Bindra has brought in with his win another essential ingredient for transforming Indian sports - the feeling that we can win. "He will be an inspiration for all athletes," federal Sports Minister MS Gill said.
The young shooter, who heads his own computer games company is sure to return to a hero's welcome on Thursday. His mother, Babli Bindra, said tongue-in-cheek that she has a lot of work ahead - as the Olympic gold had made her son the country's most eligible bachelor.
DPA
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