Twenty four years back, China won her first ever gold medal at the 1984 LA Olympics. It was at a shooting event (50m rifle). Will we be the leaders in the medal tally some 24 years down the line? Sounds wishful, at best.
In the year 1984, China took back another 15 gold medals. Of this an amazing six were bagged by Li Ning. Yes, the guy who flew to light up the torch this year. I guess he was the man for the task. It seems that the Chinese had been training for the 1984 performance for years. It was talent supported with a lot of planning, resources and a belief that national pride is strongly co-related with performance at such events.
In contrast, Abhinav Bindra was a lot of ambition supported by a wealthy father. The three boxers, who have given a lot of hope of taking the medal tally beyond the solitary medallion that we already have, have come out of our own sporting system. But at most other sports, we just suck!
May be the time is ripe for privatisation of sports. At some level it is happening anyway. With the LN Mittal Champions trust supporting Archery, Prakash Padukone's Baddy institute is also flush with funds, Apollo tyres supporting tennis and then Hindujas are supporting shooting. Hopefully, other sports will also see more corporates participating in their development. May be, we will be the generation that will be able to tell the generations to come that it all started with the golden moment of 2008.
We may not be the leader at the 2032 Olympics but we would be a force to reckon with. This is dedicated to the hopes of that Golden Olympic!
In the year 1984, China took back another 15 gold medals. Of this an amazing six were bagged by Li Ning. Yes, the guy who flew to light up the torch this year. I guess he was the man for the task. It seems that the Chinese had been training for the 1984 performance for years. It was talent supported with a lot of planning, resources and a belief that national pride is strongly co-related with performance at such events.
In contrast, Abhinav Bindra was a lot of ambition supported by a wealthy father. The three boxers, who have given a lot of hope of taking the medal tally beyond the solitary medallion that we already have, have come out of our own sporting system. But at most other sports, we just suck!
May be the time is ripe for privatisation of sports. At some level it is happening anyway. With the LN Mittal Champions trust supporting Archery, Prakash Padukone's Baddy institute is also flush with funds, Apollo tyres supporting tennis and then Hindujas are supporting shooting. Hopefully, other sports will also see more corporates participating in their development. May be, we will be the generation that will be able to tell the generations to come that it all started with the golden moment of 2008.
We may not be the leader at the 2032 Olympics but we would be a force to reckon with. This is dedicated to the hopes of that Golden Olympic!
1 comment:
aamin!
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