The funny part is that we have three boxers, all from one district with a population of about 1.4 million, competing in the quarterfinals of the Olympics, while the entire US has two boxers competing. That tells me that our problem definitely does not lie with the talent pool or the potential of our athletes. We just need efficient programs to find and develop them.
You know what the main problem with Olympic sports in India is ? They all seem to whine about the fact that Cricket is the most popular sport in India and how it hogs all the limelight.They must accept that as a fact and move on.They must realize that some sports will be more popular with the masses than the others.Its like Football in England an Brazil.
Does Australia not do well in all the sports.We always see it as a matter of picking one of either the Olympic sports or Cricket whereas it should be our aim to excel in both.The sports authorities must take a leaf out of the BCCI`s book and know to get funds into the sport.As much as I hate the BCCI,they`ve still done a fairly good job of running the game in the country while the other sports bodies have just been established for the sake of establishing them and have done absolutely nothing to promote these sports and hunt for talent.These associations are all run by the politicians who know nothing about the sport and take those junket trips during the olympics.I do not think that it is cricket`s fault that these associations have not been able to sell their sport or hunt for more talent.There seems to be no will to do that at all.All they seem to do is keep going on and on against Cricket without realizing that sports like shooting,boxing,athletics will never be popular TV sports like Cricket or Football.
What the corporates say is that they are all willing to fund these athletes but are not being resisted by these authorities due to the fear of being made accountable to someone.
Take the example of Hockey,for instance.Hockey has the potential to be a popular sport with the masses, being TV friendly.The authorities have done nothing to sell the sport to the masses and the internal politics have lead to the team going on a downhill slide which has resulted in an all-time low for Indian hockey.Who is to be blamed for it ? Again,the authorities.
The bottomline is that they must stop the whining and show the will to make better athletes by improving the training facilities so that we can at least come back with a few more medals than just one.If it was all about money,why is it that some very poor African countries win more medals than us ! Do their athletes earn a lot?
If it is all in the genes, then I see no reason why athletes from some of the hilly parts of the country or the Pathan race cannot be seen as really fit people.
As you said,if a single district of the country can produce more boxers than the whole of the U.S, there should be no reason why we cannot train more quality athletes if there is the will to do so.
We must bring more professionalism into sports if we are to do better.
