10 Reasons Why India Fail to Win Maximum Medals in Olympics

Olympics is touted as one of the Most Popular Sporting Discipline where after every 4 years more than 200 countries compete against each other for prestigious medals spread across three disciplines- Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal..

If you look at India’s Performance in Olympics so far, where they have bagged only 41 medals which include 10 gold medal, 9 Silver medal and 22 Bronze Medal.

Isn’t it disappointing, Country which amassed massive population around 1.4 Billion have managed to win only 41 medals in other words its pretty sad to see that our athletes who have played all 25 Olympics held so far have managed to win only these meager medals.

Wait, the problem doesn’t persist with Athlete it goes down to all Stakeholders who have held several positions in distinct Sporting Federations but failed to produce results the way we wanted them to yield.

Before we dive deep into 10 Reasons why Indian Olympics Team across several disciplines have failed to win maximum medals in Marquee event we would like to start with Infrastructure which is missing big time across all sporting domain.

10. Gender Disparity especially with Women in Sports: 

In our Country despite living in 21st century, social bias when it comes to involving Women in Sports is at top most pedestal.

In order to understand this just watch this movie “Dangal” where Geeta and Babita Phogat when they started learning wrestling they learn the nuances of the game by fighting against Male Players.

Their father Mahavir Phogat had to fight against so many society bias in order to ensure these two girls can become Wrestling Champion.

Yes things have changed with time, More girls are actively talking part in Sport but in Tier 2 and Tier 3 Cities there is still so much gender bias going on especially when it comes to providing opportunity to women in Sports.

The logistical and Societal challenges- Training facilities for women, Separate Gym for women, recovery and rehabilitation centers for them is still a massive challenge in our country.

For them to face these challenges to representing our country at the highest level makes it perfect story of redemption for them.

9. Economic Hardships and Limited Employment Opportunities Post Retirement:

If you want to understand anything in length, its imperatively important to understand its diaspora from all angles one one hand we have Virat Kohli with absolute net worth of 21,000 crores which he absolutely deserve for what he has done in Cricket which is one of the most followed sport in the country.

What about Sports like Sprint, Basketball, Football, Hockey or Miscellaneous which still needs massive marketing where most people in our country will even fail to tell the name of 10-11 players playing in these Sporting domain.

Also if you read their stories you will become emotional, as they come from Humble background all they posses unbelievable Grit and Determination to do something big.

You will be amazed some of these athletes when they start playing at initial stage fail to fulfil their diet and training.

If we want our athlete to do well in Olympic stage, right from the beginning their demands must be taken into consideration.

The worst thing for them is their career post retirement where they have to report to some official who hardly have any idea about what it takes to make it big in Sports.

8. Lack of Sports Science, Nutrition and Training Facilities: 

Those days in Sport have been extinct, where some of the players with absolute natural gift used to dismantle any opposition across distinct Sporting discipline.

In today’s time period, if you want to do well in Sports every athlete must be well aware with Sports Science, Bio Mechanics, Nutrition and Training Gears and Facilities failing which they would not be able to compete with the world.

Sports have become so dynamic and data driven if you are not equipped as player trust me you will loose big time when it comes to competing with Athlete with International Standard.

Countries like USA, China and Australia have already adapted these technologies so vividly that these results can be showcased at immediate levels.

Whenever we witness any Olympic event, these three countries are always at pedestal in no time which speaks a volume about how Sports has transitioned in their country at rapid pace.

7. Parents Peer Pressure for Academics: 

In India, Parents want secure future for their children are they wrong? Not at all no one wants to see their ward facing economic hardships but the stark reality is different.

There are several examples of players in distinct sporting discipline who have done so much financially that their entire generation can sit without doing anything and rely on his/her laurels.

Education pressure from parents should be stretched in such a way that every player must do graduation and there are several avenues through which they can complete their graduation so that in case they don’t make it big in Sports they have plan B to rely on.

6. Limited Exposure to International Events: 

There is a popular saying in English which in meaning would turn out to be “If you think you are the best player of your school and college and you inculcate this mindset that I am champion player that means you are living in the fools world as you have never participated in those games which is stretching beyond school and college if you start winning medals in district, state, country then also you are not touted as world champion instead you will be known as National Champion the moment you extend these boundaries and start winning in the world beating several countries in front of massive audience eventually you will be termed as World Champion and the best example to record this testament is Neeraj Chopra who went on to win Gold Medal in Javelin”

Examples Like Neeraj Chopra are very few if you understand this pain point by larger picture they get limited exposure to International Events if there is no exposure outside India, you will hardly understand how to execute your plans in crunch phase of the game.

5. Corruption and Musical Chair Administration in Sports Governance: 

There is immense challenge in Indian Administration as there is so much fight for withholding power instead of taking managerial steps to improve Indian Sports, there is always blame game happening which needs to stop otherwise Sport in India will go in doldrums.

Certain schemes are like TOPS(Target Olympics Podium Scheme and Khelo India Youth Games and Khelo India University Games where so many budding players have come up the ranks and represented India later with the best of their ability.

If India needs to do well in Olympics they need to do built more robust structural policies which should be replicated time and again so that budding players can compete against the best in the business and improve their sporting performance.

4. Improper Coaching Standards:

The World has moved towards Sports Science, data and analytics and the coaches who are doing wonders are certainly ensuring the amalgamation of these three things.

Every coach is equipped with these tools and technologies and they are also taking Level 2 and Level 3 courses so relying on natural instinct for certain coaches would not do wonders for India.

Every Coach should take Certification from respective Sporting Federation and they should be well equipped with modern tools and tactics so that they can understand the requirement of modern sporting ecosystem.

 

3. Weakness in Talent Spotting and Identification Program: 

The talent identification Program across all Sporting Discipline is lacking big time in India in order to spot best talent who can do wonders at district, state and central level his/her talent should be spotted and coaches should act as scout at grassroot where players identification can be done via them so that best lot start learning the nuances of sport at early age where they can built 360 degree ecosystem which include- fitness, diet, training facility, psychological and physiological aspect of the game vividly.

Countries like China, USA and Australia have done wonders when it comes to spotting talent at Young age and provided them the best of facilities so that they can deliver in bigger stage like Olympics as they have been trained from tender age on how they can handle pressure at bigger stage like Olympics where more than 200 countries fans are witnessing your game at stadium and the same number of people are witnessing you from their respective home screen.

 

 

2. Improper Investment in Cricket vs Other Sports:

Let’s Closely observe the investment in Cricket in comparison to Other Sports you will find stark difference in that, BCCI being the private entity have made different beast all together whether in terms of revenue generation, media rights, players salary and League Exposure BCCI have ensured that Indian Cricketers receive best facilities right from tender age from the day start playing this sport professionally.

In other Sports, Several Federations are either Government based so funding have been major issues also administrative challenges where they have failed to bring sponsors on the board especially private stakeholders failing which they haven’t not been able to generate consistent investments in their leagues as well as at Grassroot levels.

This problem needs some serious addressing otherwise it will be too late it will significantly dampen the sprit of Players belonging to other Sporting Disciplines.

1. Sports being treated as Recreation not Profession: 

In our country Sport is being treated as recreation it all start with Sports period pertaining to 30 minutes, where in the blink of an eye if you are sports fanatics, lecture will pass in no time so instead of treating as Sports Period school should make it compulsory as part of education curriculum.

Every student is not good in Academies if they are good at Sports, their talent should be utilized in Sporting fraternity where they can excel at grassroot level to highest level.

There are immense job opportunities in Sports in India- Player, Coach, Journalist, Physiotherapist, Data Analyst , Operations and many more its just people aren’t aware about that.

The technological advancements could be used vividly to inform players about all these possible opportunities.

Analyzing all these 10 factors I can only see Delhi is quite far at the moment, robust policy along with hard working stakeholders are required behind the scenes in most Sporting Disciplines one of the biggest sporting nation where athletes are churning out medals at regular levels at grand stage like Olympics.

The current government have spent money on Sports its just well thought plan should be implemented across all states in the country where valuable inputs from Sports Authority of India and Ministry of Sports should come under one roof and ensure that these policies are implemented so that athletes feel confident when they represent country in Olympics and churn out medals at their will at the biggest Sporting Arena to wider extent with utmost dedication and sincerity.