It is no secret that India is not a powerhouse when it comes to the Olympic Games. Many people would point out that despite India being the second most populated country in the world, and having a population exceeding 1 billion, it still has much to achieve on the Olympic stage. This follows the assumption that a country with a higher population should have more successful athletes. While this is a flawed assumption, to begin with, it still boggles the mind how a country with a sixth of the population can go on to participate in all but 4 editions of the Olympics and still have such a low medals tally.
9 Gold medals, 7 silver medals, and 12 bronze medals. That would put the second most populated country in the world eight in the medal table of the 2016 Rio Olympics. However, the stated medal tally isn’t the number of medals India won in 2016, but the total amount of medals India has won in the history of the Olympic Games. In fact, in the 2016 Olympic Games, India won only 1 silver and 1 bronze medal, finishing 67th place on the medal table, behind the likes of Slovenia, Ivory Coast, and the Bahamas. We also have to consider that 3 of those gold medals and 2 of those silver medals were awarded to India before Independence, with both of the silver medals being awarded to Normal Pritchard, a track athlete of British descent who won two silver medals in 1900. Even the iconic hockey side which won the 3 aforementioned gold medals had a mix of people of Indian and British descent.
There are all sorts of interesting arguments as to why India is not dominant in the Olympics. There are many talking points to this issue which shall be looked into.
Investment in Sports
The official budget for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in the financial year 2020-2021 is Rs. 2,826 crores, a mere increase of 50 crores from last year. It is no secret that investments are important for progress in any activity. However, they are even more important in the field of sports. However, before we even analyze where that money is going, it's important to note that the total amount of the budget allocated for incentives for sportspeople has actually been slashed from Rs. 111 crores to Rs. 70 crores. This is concerning as incentives are important for anyone to perform to their maximum potential, including sportspeople.
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A large amount of this money goes to the Sports Authority of India, who build infrastructure, conduct sports camps and provide equipment to sportspeople and other related services. The National Sports Federations for each sport are also given a significant part of the budget, who do different activities regarding their specific sports. However the program which got the biggest part of the budget at about Rs 890.42 crores, and an increase of about Rs. 312.42 was the Khelo India program, whose purpose is to grow talent on a grassroots level and is connected to the Khelo India Youth Games, where school children from all around the country participate.
It is definitely a positive step to invest in grassroots development but it is important to remember that most of the other activities, programs, etc faced a cut in the budget. Many people would argue that massive investments in sports are the only way forward, however they miss another crucial point.
Sports culture in India
This is the point that truly nullifies the argument that a country with a higher population should be a country with a higher number of medals. Different countries have different cultures. As for India, on a national scale, most sports really aren’t that popular. Most non-sports fans would not really know many sportspeople, and for many sports, while they are popular on a regional basis, they aren’t really that popular on a national level. While there are definitely some outliers to this, such as cricket, which is very popular on a national level, participation in any sort of organized sports is still pretty low.
While it cannot be argued that sports culture in India is stagnant, it can be argued that India simply needs time. Investments can only take us to a certain point, but only if participation increases will we truly reach our potential as a nation. This is not as simple as forcing children to take up sports, it requires us to foster a culture wherein participating in sports is seen as desirable by not only the youth but by society in general. This is why our cricket team is so successful on an international stage. As mentioned before, such a change only comes with time.
Sports Awareness in India
While not everyone can participate in sports, most common citizens can at least know about and support the sportspeople that represent our country. Another reason why India is so successful at cricket is because of the demand for cricket, and the fact that there are so many cricket fans in the country. That cannot be said about most sports on a national level. Ask a non-sports fan to name 10 sportspeople from India and a majority of them will be cricketers, who have achieved a status of cultural icons in India. However, ask them to name 10 sportspeople outside cricket and they will start to struggle. Sports awareness too is a function of time if sportspeople in India are promoted properly. How many people remember who was the last gold medalist in the Olympics to represent India, Abhinav Bindra? How many people know about Sushil Kumar, one of the best wrestlers to represent India who has won a bronze and silver at previous Olympics? How many people would have known about the multitude of athletes such as Geeta Phogat and Milkha Singh before Bollywood decided to make movies about them?
Cricket in the Olympics?
There is no doubt that cricket is the sport that is the most popular in India and the sport in which Indians are the best. Cricket has only been featured in the Olympics once, during the 1900 Paris Olympics, and only featured two teams, Great Britain and France. India would definitely have more medals if cricket were a staple sport in the Olympics. However, the sad reality is that one of the bodies most opposed to seeing cricket in the Olympics is the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), as they fear that they may lose their share in revenues. However, despite this there have been various efforts to bring back cricket to the Olympics, including the most recent push to bring T20 cricket to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
There is no doubt that as investments and general awareness of sports rise in India, that India will eventually become a noticeable force at the Olympics. But for now, all we can do is support the various Indian athletes who will be participating in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, to be held in 2021.
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