“’To put things in perspective, India won an all-time high, six individual medals at the 2012 London Olympics. But it was not thanks to the sports federations. It was a grit of individual sportspersons that did it. Of the six Olympic medal winners, four were supported by Olympic Gold Quest and one by the Mittal Champions Trust. Embroiled in internal politics, government bodies have been failing Indian sports for decades.”
“Sports is not a priority in our country. To be a sportsman is not something that we, as a nation, are particularly proud of. So, when parents are pushed to choose between studies and sports, the unanimous choice is an always academics.”
“Identifying talent at the grassroots level is the key and this is something the West and China learnt a long time ago. England has created a system called ‘Talent ID’ for all the Olympic sports. They look athletes and based on the physical requirements of a sports, they identify the potential of the child through quantitative measurements and develop them from an early age for specialist sports.’’
“Fifteen of the 39 Indian Olympic Association constituent federations and 23 of 33 State Olympic Association presidents are politicians.”
Marathon Men
Sports Federation
|
Head-In charge
|
Political Affiliation
|
Duration
|
Archery Association of India
|
V.K. Malhotra
|
BJP
|
40 years
|
Judo Federation of India
|
Jagdish Tytler
|
Congress
|
14 years
|
Table Tennis Federation of India
|
Ajay Singh Chautala
|
INL
|
14 years
|
All India Football Federation
|
P.R. Dasmunshi
|
Congress
|
20 years
|
Athletics Federation of India
|
Lalit Bhanot
|
-
|
24 years
|
Indian Olympic Association
|
Suresh Kalmadi
|
Congress
|
16 years
|
…but politics is just the tip of the iceberg, the rot runs much deeper.
Avalok Langer examines why we are not a sporting nation
Tehelka
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