The Great Olympics

    After fantastic two weeks the 2012 Olympics came to a glorious end yesterday. Two weeks of intense competition of the best athletes in the world for the ultimate achievement in the pinnacle of sports.

    I watched earnestly & was in awe of the sportive spirit, dedication & skill among the athletes. The difference of winning & loosing was a so trivial. Their faces were Jubilant, full of pride when they stood on the pedestal to receive the medals they had won for their country. And it was Perhaps most cherished moment in their life.

    The origin of Olympics itself is a legend. Called the Ancient Olympics, they supposed to have originated around 776 BC (..Wow think about that time),  as an honor to the Greek father of the gods Zeus at Athens. The ancient Olympics continued till 393AD.. Astounding to note that organized games have such an ancient beginning, which perhaps makes it the oldest known organized event.

   Modern Olympics were funded by a wealthy Greek and were established in 1859. The International Olympic Committee was founded in 1890. In 1896 the first Modern Olympics took place in Olympia, Greece at Panathenaic Stadium where 14 Nations participated with 271 athletes competing in 43 events.

      Now in 2012 the statistics are staggering.. 205 Nations, 10500 athletes competing in 302 events in 36 different sports. 962 medals were awarded this year, USA taking the most with 104, China with 88 & Great Britain managing third place at 65 medals ( based on most no of gold, Russia is at 4^th with 82 medals total)

   Which started as a competition between athletes -  it has now transformed into a battle for dominance in sports. Each country battling for supremacy over other by sending out their best trained, professional athletes for just one purpose- Getting more medals than any other. Earlier it was US & Former USSR, What I see now emerged as a battle between China & US.  Both countries sending out an army of athletes. US – 539, China 384 so has Australia – 414, Great Britain because of home advantage entered 564 athletes & India sending out 83- its largest contingent till now.

    Past two weeks we have seen the strength of human potential & endurance stretched to the limit with many new records broken. But 2012 London Olympics would be remembered for two great Olympians - Usain “Lightning” Bolt who created a new Olympic Record in 100 meters in 9.63 seconds - Was part of World record for 4x100 meter relay this Olympics. Previously he pocketed the world record for 100m, which he did in 9.58 seconds, phenomenal as his top speed reached 44 Km/hr.

He won 3 gold medals in 2012 Olympics. He ran as though he had wheels under his feet & Michael Phelps- Probably he was having fins. However could he have won so many medals as he has? Most no of gold medals in Olympics making him the greatest Olympian ever. This Olympics he won 4 Gold & 6 silver medals. Finished the 100 meter butterfly event in 51.21 seconds. Has a world record & Olympic record to his credit, 49.82 & 50.58 seconds respectively. Amazing Humans. That’s all I can say.

    India has been participating in the Olympics since 1927 and its greatest achievement as an Indian I wish is yet to come. But if considered past events, it was from 1928 to 1956 when all the hockey events were won by India. Recent years Indian entries to Olympic events diversified to Boxing, Wrestling, shooting, Tennis & archery where our athletes have brought honor to our great country.  

At London, India Won 6 Medals – 2 Silver & 4 Bronze.

• Gagan Narang won the first medal a bronze in 10 m air rifle event.
• Vijay Kumar won a Silver in men’s 25 m rapid fire pistol event.
• Saina Nehwal won a bronze medal in Woman’s Singles in badminton. This was India’s first medal in Badminton at Olympics although I assume this was the strongest possibility of a Gold for which whole India was expectant.
• Mary Kom's phenomenal Bronze.
• Yogeshwar Dutt won Bronze in 60Kg freestyle wrestling.
• Sushil kumar made a practice of winning medals at international events with silver in 66kg freestyle wrestling.

      Most of our athletes come from a humble background and had to struggle a lot to even reach a participation level.  Mary Kom won a Bronze medal for Boxing. This was the first time Women Boxing was included in the games & it’s a matter of great pride that she got a medal for the country. Coming from a very humble beginning & circumstances she did what most of us can only imagine or Watch on TV.

     We are a country of 1.2 Billion people. When I say 1.2 billion I am not just talking about the population, I am referring more towards the potential that this country can generate and should be able to tumble the top medal getters. This could be possible, if young ones are nurtured at an early stage with a Strong support from the Government in terms of better facilities & optimum promotion of these sports. Agreed it can’t be done at once but a strong start should be made. For example China captures talent in kids very early and are trained by the Govt solely for one purpose- Getting medals for their country, USA has wonderful facilities & the right motivation, which is obvious with the no of medals they win at international events.   

    The biggest demotivation in India for anyone to enter into sports other than cricket is the situation after retirement. We still hear distressing news time to time about our great champions of yesteryears struggling for their lively hood. They were trained and lived for the sports. Not blaming anyone or any sport but pointing that a drastic revival of our sporting facilities is needed.

Time for a change. We as people of India should also recognize and support these sports & our great athletes.

      Hmm I ended up deviating from the topic I started writing initially, nevertheless…

Hoping to see India emerge as a strong sportive nation & more medals come our way.

Ravindra

Delhi

13-8-12 2330 MON