2024-08-12 22:55:58
Boria Majumdar (New Delhi): India was expected to win double digit medals in the Paris Olympics. We had 117 players, many of whom were the world’s top athletes. So these expectations were justified. But, in reality, the result was not as good as expected. The biggest disappointment was that India could not win a single gold medal in the Paris Olympics.The dream is broken: The Vinesh Phogat case has further aggravated this problem. After defeating a great player like Yui Susaki, Vinesh was the strongest contender for the gold, but when she was weighed before the last match, she was found to be 100 grams more. Therefore, she was disqualified for the match and her dream of gold was shattered.
6 players at number four: If we look at it superficially, the Paris Olympics was not easy for India. But if we look deeply, we can see some hope as well. Neeraj Chopra says that ‘six fourth places are not easily achieved. This means that our players are almost reaching there. If we keep supporting them, we can convert these fourth places into medals.’
Live from Romania: Looking at the performance of Nishant Dev, Vinesh Phogat and the pair of Satwik and Chirag, winning double-digit medals seemed possible. India also performed very well in women’s table tennis. Two Indian girls reaching the pre-quarterfinals was a historic event and so was defeating Romania in the team event. India registered a brilliant victory against Romania.
Mistakes at the big moment: Dheeraj and Ankit Bhagat came very close to a medal in mixed archery. Lakshya Sen lost a one-game advantage and an 8-3 lead. Satwik and Chirag were also one game ahead and were 14-10 up in the final set but lost. That being said, none of these players lack potential.
Need for introspection: Neeraj Chopra said that ‘the day also matters in sports. You need a little luck. If the day is not yours, then it becomes very difficult to get a medal or win.’ However, in some sports, such as athletics, weightlifting and women’s badminton, there is a lot of scope for introspection. Barring Chopra and Avinash Sable (3000 m steeplechase) and to some extent Parul Chaudhary (3000 m steeplechase), all other track and field athletes performed disappointingly.
Returning to shooting: Many of the shooters performed their personal best. That is why they are being appreciated. The shooters won three medals. After the disappointments of Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, looking at this performance in the Paris Olympics, it seems that Indian players are regaining their old shine and their performance can be good in the future as well. The bronze medal in hockey is a matter of great joy, because after Tokyo, India has won this medal for the second consecutive time in the Paris Olympics.
Where did the mistake happen: Where did India go wrong? In the management of the athletes. The support staff, which includes nutritionists and sports scientists, must take responsibility for Anant Panghal’s failure. How could he have had no energy left during the bout? When you hear that he competed after fasting for 48 hours to lose weight, it is clear that something is wrong somewhere. The same happened with boxer Amit Panghal. And serious introspection is needed in Vinesh’s case. Though the conspiracy theories going around in this case are baseless, still someone made a mistake somewhere, due to which India had to lose the medal.
Increase in the number of players: Going forward, India needs to focus on one simple thing. Try to triple the number of athletes at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. In Paris, the US had over 600 athletes, while Japan had over 400. India sent only 117 athletes. If India is able to triple this number, naturally the number of medals will also increase.
First grow medlar: Instead of focusing on hosting the Games in 2036, the focus should be entirely on increasing the number of medals in the 2028 Olympics and events beyond that. Only then can we become an Olympic Nation and only then will hosting the world’s biggest sporting event have any meaning.